For The Stars (Part Five Of Star Child)
by KarsKars
Summary: Keith now finds himself as the Red Paladin on Voltron and must find a way to juggle his relationships with both his new and former teams - all while trying to save the universe.
1. The Rise Of Voltron

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:  
**This is part 5 of a 6 part series. I can't link to the other parts but you should definitely read them before tackling this one or not much will make sense.

Part 1: From The Stars (4 Chapters)  
Part 2: To The Stars (3 Chapters)  
Part 3: Amongst The Stars (6 Chapters)  
Part 4: Of The Stars (10 Chapters)

**ALSO:** Once again there is a good chunk of the dialogue taken directly from Canon with a few additions, exclusions, and modifications to tweak it for this retelling. There are also entire sections of cannon that have been rewritten due to character motivations changing. Enjoy this retelling :)

\- KarsKars

* * *

**THE RISE OF VOLTRON  
**

Lance and Hunk had left in Blue, Shiro and Pidge had left in a pod, and Keith was stuck standing in the way-too-bright medbay with two Ancient Alteans. It was awkward. He shifted his weight between his feet slightly. After the identity scans, the castle had automatically started translating everything. He and Shiro had been the only ones to understand the scan, but after it was complete the translations flowed seamlessly.

He was trying not to eavesdrop, but they were both talking so loudly that it was hard not listen. The princess' hatred ran deep; she _hated_ the Galra, all Galra. He thought, for a fraction of a tic, he'd caught the other Altean's eyes flit over to him, but that was just paranoia right? Keith looked passably Human, he arrived with 4 actual Humans, and he'd made damn sure to only speak in English since arriving. So he shrugged it off and continued to study the room and his surroundings, tiny scurrying movements catching his attention every so often.

Before they'd left, Coran gave Shiro a run down on how to fly one of the Altean pods. He'd asked a whole slew of questions about Earth and how much the Earthlings knew and what Earth technology was like and so on. Shiro volunteered the information that Earth was un-contacted and that they knew literally nothing – with the exception of Keith. The newly minted Red Paladin made a mental note to 'thank' Shiro for that one.

Currently, Coran was working at the console running full diagnostics of the castle. Allura was pacing around the room, waiting for further instruction. And the mice were keeping their distance, which was all well and good to him; he hated mice! Although, the big one might make a decent snack if they kept chittering annoyingly, and Keith started to notice that he _was_ fairly hungry and they hadn't eaten in a while. He eyed it up a little and the creature scurried over to Allura, scampering up her leg and hiding in the princess' massive pile of hair with the other mice.

"KEITH! You will not eat Platt." She scolded, starring him down with the kind of authority one is simply _born_ with. "Or any of the mice for that matter." was added after a moments thought. He rolled his eyes and huffed, crossing his arms and glaring at the Altean mouse.

"Um, Princess? Could you go to the bridge and relay the current configuration of the Ploogles? They should be set to match the Riggets, but _not_ the Splunkers. That is VERY important!"

"Of course, Coran. Match the Splunkers. I understand." She giggled and swiftly left the room, taking the mice with her, and gracefully made her way down the hall to disappear into the elevator as Coran sputtered. Keith smirked as he watched her go and when he looked back, the moustachioed man was directly in his face, mere inches away. Keith may have hissed at him.

"Sorry lad; didn't mean to startle you._"_

"S'fine. Just wasn't expecting it."

"Yes, the Galra have always been quite touchy about their personal space. Hm?" Keith's eyes shot wide but he stayed otherwise silent as he stared at the Altean. "Oh come now, did you think I wouldn't notice? I must admit, the fact that you're not purple did throw me off – a Halfling I assume?" He nodded, still utterly dumbfounded. "Ah, makes sense. Your other parentage must be the same species as the Paladins, correct?" again, Keith nodded. The Altean man twirled the tip of his moustache between two fingers, pondering something as he stared the half Galra down. "If Earth is un-contacted, and the others know nothing while you know much, then I am assuming you were raised off planet and so, culturally you would be Galra not Human."

He continued to stare at the man for an embarrassingly long amount of time before nodding again. "How – how did you figure this out?"

"Well for starters you're not doing a very good job of hiding it. Poor Platt." Coran shook his head and tisked but continued none the less in an incredibly upbeat tone. "Also the castle ran a DNA scan when you all arrived." Keith groaned and the other practically beamed at him.

"So, you didn't so much 'deduce it' as just read my genetic information off your systems?" He rolled his eyes as the man bounced and laughed in agreement. _Ugh_ the Alteans were so different from the Galra. This was going to be a very long assignment. "The princess doesn't seem to like my people at all. Is this going to be a problem?"

Coran was smiling widely but there was a distant look in his eyes as he glanced in the direction of the hall. "The princess is … passionate." Keith snorted. "She cares deeply and the betrayal of our once allies is still fresh. She will come around in time."

"Maybe it's best if we keep this between us." As soon as the words left Keith's mouth a shadow came over the man, sliding in and displacing the exuberant smile that had been there moments ago.

"Do you think that is wise? To hide something like this … the Paladin bonds are about honesty and trust, and that needs to extend beyond just the other Paladins." Keith stared at him again, he was right. Not saying anything was better in the short term, but once the others found out, it would feel like a betrayal. By modifying his behaviours and avoiding the topic of where he came from, he would be choosing to actively lie to them.

Keith huffed out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "Ok fine, you're right. But just – not yet. Ok? I want to tell everyone at once, and I want to control how they find out. Shiro and Allura have every reason to hate us after what the Empire did to them but …"

"You're scared? You know, a Galra Paladin is actually a perfect fit for the Red Lion." Keith quirked his brow; waiting for him to elaborate. "Ferocious, determined, highly skilled, agile, loyal. These are all traits of the Galra and of the Red Lion."

"You say 'loyal' like it's no big deal Emperor Zarkon betrayed King Alfor and destroyed … well, everything."

"Yes, yes this is true." He twirled his moustache some more, eyeing Keith with suspicion. "You know, back in my day, Halflings were rare. I assume that isn't the case anymore?" He shook his head.

"The Empire has a habit of 'taking' what it wants and using the local populations as they see fit." The uncomfortable silence urged him to continue, and reluctantly he complied. "If a species has something beneficial to offer, a slew of _half-breeds_ will be born after they are conquered. They then grow up to be placed as rulers of the locals, a sort of bridge for the Empire to communicate and subjugate through. We are treated way better than non-Galra, but still considered 'lesser' than pure Galra. At least to the Empire."

"And you are not from the Empire?" Keith shook his head. He was a Blade. "Hmm I suppose it would be presumptuous to assume all Galra remained loyal to Zarkon for 10,000 deca-phoebs." Keith gave a curt nod and a grunt of agreement.

They lapsed into another uncomfortable silence, neither knowing what to say. Finally, after what felt like _phoebs_, the princess' voice came over the systems altering them that the others were on their way back. Together, they made their way to the bridge, continuing along in silence until Coran stopped suddenly, grasping Keith's arm and pulling him back, receiving a hiss of annoyance from the boy. The young half Galra looked back at the Altean man, a growl ready to be released at the unyielding tight grip, but noticed the concern and alarm on his face. He was staring out the window ahead of them, into the atmosphere of Arus; curious, Keith turned his own gaze and inhaled sharply.

Off in the distance, barely visible at this range, was a large battle cruiser. It circled Arus in a wide orbit, slowly sinking below the horizon as it fell from view. "How did they get here so fast?" Coran's voice sounded foreign, the exuberance he'd shown before now fully faded in his fear.

"I guess a lot has changed in 10,000 deca-phoebs. Did you account for hyper-drive in your calculations?" He spoke softly, not wanting to upset the man any further.

"Ah, finger counting is – well, it's more of an art than a science really." Keith snickered and nodded. "I guess the Galra have improved their technology considerably. You'll need to catch us all up to speed once we have all the lions. Come along."

He loosened his grip but did not fully let go, opting to pull the boy along behind him. Planting his feet firmly, and causing the man to stop in his tracks, Keith stopped their small procession. "I want to be clear, nothing left 'up in the air' as the Humans say." Coran nodded, prompting him to continue. Keith took a deep breath and met his eyes. "I will tell them, I will. I just – not yet. Please don't say anything."

"It's not my secret to tell dear boy. But coming from experience, sooner rather than later would be best."

"And if I choose to say nothing?"

"Than that is your decision."

"You wont say anything to the Princess?"

Coran hesitated. His blue eyes surveyed Keith's with an intense scrutiny. "As I said, it's not my secret to tell. But, I rather dislike hiding things from Allura."

"Understandable." He agreed with a nod but didn't say anything further.

They made it to the bridge where Allura was waiting, standing in the centre of the room with her hands atop 2 pillars. From here, he could see the wormholes held open in the sky and when three lions came through, a rush of excited flooded his veins. The princess opened the hangar doors from her place on the bridge landing, and the three lions entered. Briefly, he wondered where the Altean pod was but quickly deduced it to be inside the belly of the Green Lion.

He'd been right. Both Shiro and Pidge entered the bridge, wide smiles and comfortable expressions as they greeted the other occupants. Shortly afterwards, Hunk and Lance arrived looking considerably worse for wear and complaining about the difficulty of their mission. Keith rolled his eyes, if they wanted to experience a difficult retrieval mission they should try going into a weblum! Now _that_ is a rough experience.

He shuddered at the memory of his first time in a weblum. It had been a standard training mission with the Blades to teach new recruits how to think on their feet in a dangerous situation. He had been randomly paired with Zavin and the two of them had nearly gotten themselves vaporized by the giant creature's face laser for not paying attention to Kolivan during their briefing.

The main screens flickered and it pulled Keith back to the present. They were being hailed by the nearby cruiser and suddenly, Sendak's face appeared before them, his authoritative voice carrying throughout the bridge.

"_Princess Allura, this is Commander Sendak of the Galra Empire. I come on behalf of Emperor Zarkon, Lord of the known Universe. I am here to confiscate the lions. Turn them over to me or I will destroy your planet._" The video abruptly cut out and they were left in silence. Keith scoffed at the Commander's power move.

"Ok, let's not panic." Shiro stated, attempting to maintain a calm, controlled air. It wasn't working.

"Not panic? The scary purple alien thing is driving his battleship towards us. We only have 4 lions - "

"Technically, only 3 working lions." Katie cut in, interrupting Hunk's cowardly rant.

"- That's right. Thank you, Pidge. THREE working lions and a castle that's like, 10,000 years old -"

"Actually, it's 10,600 deca-phoebs old. You see, it was built by my grandfather -" Coran also cut in, only to be cut off himself as Hunk resumed.

"- Thanks, Coran. Thank you for that. See? Now is the perfect time to panic!" Keith rolled his eyes, ready to make a snarky comment when Allura piped up.

"Wait! This castle has a particle barrier we can activate."

"Girl you've already activated my -"

"_Lance!_" Shiro cut him off and Keith rolled his eyes even more than before.

The castle's systems analyzed the cruiser, singling out the ion cannon as the greatest threat. _Duh!_ He thought to himself. "The particle barrier won't hold Sendak's ion cannon forever. The Galra technology must have advanced since we fought them last." Coran explained to eliciting shock from everyone but Keith.

"Gee, who would have thought an Empire built on war and conquering would result in more technological advancement, especially with weapons." He rolled his eyes again. Honestly, did they think Zarkon just puttered around the universe for the last 10,000 deca-phoebs?

"Yes, that's right Keith! The Galra are way more advanced than us! Can we panic now?" Hunk was already one step away from a full nervous breakdown.

"Look, the Empire is highly advanced with ships and tech that can't be matched by any other weapons. But Voltron isn't just _any other weapon_. I've heard the stories of King Alfor and the legends of Voltron. The princess is right, if the Emperor is looking for it, it's because he's afraid." Coran and Allura were beaming at him and he felt himself blush under the Princess' intense gaze. Katie, Hunk, and Shiro looked nervous, but Lance was glaring at him. Keith rolled his eyes again and, in a moment of juvenile weakness, stuck his tongue out at the Blue Paladin.

"No one is panicking. We've just got to figure out our plan of action, and figure it out quickly." Shiro added, quickly stepping into the role of leader.

"I say we pop through a wormhole and live to fight another day." Lance contributed, and Hunk immediately agreed.

"I second that. Yes. We tried to find all the lions, right? We gave it the old college try. Couldn't do it. We only have 3 – we can't form Voltron. I mean, I guess we could form a snake. Or a worm! To go through that hole, Lance that you were talking about."

"Then, it's settled." The Cuban moved to stand in front of the princess. "Allura, you ride with me. One of you take the old guy." Coran's head nearly blew right off his shoulders and Keith was tics away from objecting as Katie voiced his exact thoughts.

"We can't just abandon Arus. The Galra will keep destroying planets and capturing prisoners until we stop them."

"Okay. If we run, then maybe Sendak will follow us and leave this planet alone, like when we left Earth. We form the snake-worm thingamajig and we _ssss_ our way of here!" Hunk was afraid, he could tell, but that was no reason to turn tail and runaway like a bunch of cowards. If Coran was right and a Galra was the perfect fit for Red, then Keith was going to embrace the more Galra parts of himself. Letting his Galra heritage be what holds the team to their moral compass. So he spoke up.

"I know what Sendak is capable of. He will destroy Arus then come after us anyway. Besides, he has the Red Lion on his ship. Staying is our only option."

"Here's an option: shut your quiznak." Lance unhelpfully interjected.

"You're not using that word correctly!"

"What do you know, Mullet?" Lance  
"We're STAYING!" Keith  
"Leaving!" Lance  
"Staying!" Katie  
"Snake!" Hunk  
"Guys! Stop!" Shiro

"Princess Allura, these are your lions. You've dealt with the Galra Empire before. You know what we're facing, what do _you_ think is the best course of action?" Shiro diplomatically redirected the decision. Voltron was an Altean legacy, but the Altean princess wasn't much older than them. Still, if anyone got to make the final call, it was her.

"I – I don't know." Her face fell and she looked to Coran for advice. He led Allura out of the bridge, to another room in the castle, leaving the chaotic paladins alone. Hunk and Lance continued to debate the reasons for leaving, while Katie advocated staying. Keith walked away from them, moving to stand by the screens and stare out at the Empire cruiser looming on the horizon. He closed his eyes, focusing on the strange energy he could feel ever since the ship came into Arus' atmosphere.

He took a deep breath in, held it, then slowly let it back out. Repeating the sequence several times. He could feel a heat in his gut, one that burned separately from his Galran bloodlust, one that sparked a flicker of excitement in his veins the more he focused on it. This was Red, this was his lion; he could feel her.

"Are you ok?" Keith turned to look at Shiro, the man's strong hand placed on his shoulder was grounding him back in reality; the sounds of the 'debate' filtering back as his focus returned to the castle. He nodded but turned his gaze back to the cruiser, back to Red. "You know, if anyone knows the most about this war, about the Galra; it's you."

Keith gulped. Of course he knew the most about the Galra; he _is_ Galra. "Ya?" he asked sheepishly, his voice holding the question more strongly than he had anticipated.

"Ya." Shiro snickered. "Coran and the princess have been asleep for most of the war. The rest of us didn't even know aliens were real until like, a few days ago. Well – I figure it out a year ago." He smiled but there was real pain hiding behind the joke. "Of all of us, you're the only one who has any experience in dealing with the Galra, of fighting in this war. You know what to expect better than anyone."

Keith stared at him a while, not really knowing what to say. It wasn't until the silence hit him that he realized the others had come to join them and were listening intently. He turned to face the group of Humans, 3 of which were still kits like him, thrust into this war without any prior knowledge, experience, or choice. He sighed and met their stares head on. "I know you're scared. That's exactly how I felt when our Leader sent me to Earth. I didn't know anything about Humans, or your planet; I didn't know what to expect or what I was getting myself into. But I _had _to do it. It was my duty and there was no one else who could go instead. Just like now. We _are_ the chosen paladins; there is no one else who can take our place. The universe needs Voltron and it is our duty to do everything we can to help. The Empire has personally hurt _all_ of us by kidnapping the Kerberos crew, destroying Altea, and hunting down the rebellion. But we need to work as a team. Voltron is about unity and trust; we need to trust each other and we need to work together if we want to stand a chance of defeating Emperor Zarkon."

"But like, can't we just go back to Earth and let the aliens deal with their own problems?"

"No Hunk, you can't. First of all – how do you plan to get home? Gunna fly a giant robotic yellow lion back to Earth and park it in your parent's garage? If you think Earth is safe – you're wrong. The Emperor won't stop until he has conquered everything. _Everything_! Earth _will_ be conquered because Earth can't protect itself. My family has been dying in this war for generations. Now I have an opportunity to actually make a real difference. We can stop the Empire from ever reaching Earth, from reaching your families and my dad, if we stand up and fight back."

There was a long silence. The realization that Keith had been raised in this war, raised to fight as a soldier his whole life, was finally sinking in. The real threat of the Empire and the lengths that Zarkon was willing to go were slowly registering in their minds.

"It's one thing to be told someone is evil, but it's a whole other thing to have it laid out in front of you like that. Damn, Mullet." Keith rolled his eyes; Lance had been so close to something profound but he had to ruin it by being all - _Lance_.

The door hissed open and the two Alteans marched inside, the princess having changed out of her royal gown and into a flight suit. Like the gown, it was white with pink and blue accents. "Paladins. Like I said, you 5 were brought here for a reason. The Voltron Lions are meant to be piloted by you, and you alone. We must fight, and keep fighting, until we defeat Zarkon. It is our destiny. Voltron is the universe's only hope; _WE_ are the universe's only hope." She stood tall and proud; delivering her speech with a confidence Keith envied. He felt her call to arms resonate, the other paladins mentally accepting the challenge placed before them.

"We're with you princess." Though it was Shiro who spoke, the words came from all of them.

* * *

Allura led them to a new location in the castle, a large room that severed as an armoury. Like the medbay and the bridge, the armoury was a large, seemingly empty, round room with bright blue lights and a cold, almost clinical feel. In fact, now that he paid more attention, the entire castle had a clinical feel. He didn't like it, the more he thought about it the emptier it felt and the more he missed the Blade bases.

"Your suits of armour." The princess illuminated the casings against the perimeter of the room, showing off the 5 identical suits inside, each colour coded to their Paladin and Lion. They moved to stand before them, staring at the ancient suits, still more advanced than anything the rebels had, but not quite as nice as his Blade armour he thought. Keith inspected his; they were lightweight and flexible but bulky and brightly coloured. There was no way they could hide in the dark shadows of an Empire ship or base while wearing bright white suits of armour. They made him feel so exposed.

"Cool" Lance  
"Outstanding" Shiro  
"Wow, neat" Katie  
"Hmm" Hunk

Keith turned to stare at the larger boy, watching him look sceptically at the small profile of the armour. He snickered to himself, the Humans were in for a treat when they experience the amazing tech infused fabrics used by the Alteans, the Empire, and the Blades. He leaned in so as not to make the poor guy uncomfortable with the attention and whispered "It'll fit – don't worry" in his ear, receiving a genuine, but mumbled, 'thanks man' in response.

Once they were all suited up, Allura made her way over to the sole console in the room. Placing her hand on the pad, she dissolved the barrier and 4 strange weapons rose. "The bayard is the traditional weapon of the Paladins of Voltron. It takes a distinct shape for each paladin." Again, they weapons were colour coded to their armour and floated over to each of them, activating once in their possession. Naturally, Keith received a sword.

"Aww, you got a cute little bayard." Lance misguidedly commented to Katie. She promptly electrocuted him, much to Keith's amusement.

"Yeah, it is pretty cute." He couldn't contain it and snickered at her comment.

"Shiro, I'm afraid your bayard was lost with its paladin." The princess' words pulled him back and Keith stared at her, slightly confused. Was she not going to mention that Zarkon was the original paladin? That according to legend he lost the mighty lion but retained the bayard? He was tics away from calling her out before realizing he hadn't told anyone that he was Galra yet, and Katie hadn't told them that she was a girl. _Guess I'm not the only one with secrets._ He thought as he surveyed the room, catching Coran's eye.

Shiro shrugged it off, trying to maintain a positive attitude. "I guess I'll just have to make do." He smiled weakly.

"Shiro – I inspected your arm after you arrived back on Earth. There are weapons in it that you can activate in place of the bayard." Every one immediately stopped and stared at him. "What?"

"Weirdo." Lance flippantly waved his hand in the air as he dismissed him and once again, for the 8 billionth time, Keith rolled his eyes.

"Keith -" Allura turned to him "You'll need to retrieve your Lion from Sendak's ship. Remember, the Red Lion is extremely temperamental, you'll have to earn its respect." He gave her a curt nod.

"Alright, here's our plan of attack." Shiro straightened, his voice shifting into 'leader mode' as he laid out what the team needed to know. "The Galra Empire knows about the Blue and Yellow Lions, but they don't know we have the Green Lion too. Hunk, Lance, you'll act as a decoy by pretending to give yourselves up. While Sendak is distracted – Keith, Pidge, and I will sneak onto the ship in the Green Lion. Keith and I will find the Red Lion while Pidge guards our exit. Hunk, Lance, Find some way to take down that ion cannon." The group went over the logistics but Keith's mind was elsewhere. If they were going after Sendak's ship they were most likely going to need to destroy it. Everyone on board would be killed. Everyone – including the Blades stationed undercover in his crew.

The princess dismissed them to mentally prepare for their first battle, to go pee, and to grab a quick helping of food goo. Instead, Keith found a quiet corner tucked away from the others and pulled out his communicator.

"_Blade, why the sudden and unscheduled communication?_" Kolivan's masked façade appeared on his screen and Keith felt his heart leap. A familiar face, even behind the mask, was something he had greatly missed. Slipping back into his native Galran, he answered his leader.

"Leader, a lot has happened in the past few quintants. The Human known as Shiro was successfully returned to Earth and we acquired the Blue Lion." He watched Kolivan nod once to acknowledge his success in the mission before continuing. "I – uh, I have some other news to report. We – we managed to acquire the Blue Lion because we found the Blue Paladin."

"_Well done."_

"Yeah, um – the Blue Paladin is a Human who's a deca-phoeb younger than me. His name is Lance and uh – Lance, Shiro, myself, and 2 other teenage Human kits were blasted off to Planet Arus in System 3-8B-F. We are currently inside the Altean Castle of Lions with a very much alive Princess Allura." Even through the mask Keith could hear the gasp of surprise from Kolivan and he grinned at being able to shock the man. "Oh, there's more. The 5 of us are the new Paladins of Voltron."

"_The 5 – of you?"_

"Yes, Sir."

"_You 5 – you are Paladins? Of Voltron?"_

"Yes, Sir." He couldn't contain his grin.

"_Keith, you are a Paladin? Which Lion?"_

"Red, Sir." Kolivan nodded.

"_You have done well. I am to assume that you are choosing to stay with your new team?"_ Keith gave a curt nod and Kolivan continued, unfazed. "_I grant permission for the extension of your mission. Do you have anything else to report?"_

"I do. We are launching an attack against Commander Sendak's ship. You have 1 varga to warn the Blades stationed on board. They need to abandon ship and escape immediately. The Voltron Lions will destroy the cruiser; I have no doubt about that."

Kolivan stared at the screen for a moment before giving him a curt nod and grunt combo. "_You're consideration of your fellow Blades is admirable. I will be sure to pass along the message. We have 2 highly valuable agents currently stationed with Sendak. Their immediate evacuation will be ordered. Good luck Blade. The return of Voltron is promising news indeed."_

With that, Kolivan cut the transmission. Their operatives would be ok. He had done everything he could to ensure that they got out. If they took too long, or ignored the warning, that was on them. Keith leaned back against the wall and let out a long sigh. What would happen to the undercover Blades if he hadn't been chosen as a paladin? They'd probably die on the ships they were assigned to, just like the Empire soldiers. Without Keith, Voltron would be just as dangerous to the Blades as it was to the Empire. Maybe he _was_ chosen for a reason.

* * *

"_Pidge, what's your ETA?"_ He heard Lance's voice float casually over the coms in their helmets. The sound was so clear it was as if the Cuban was standing right next to him. Event their Blade suits had a slight distortion over the coms.

"We're in." She replied and they began to make their way down the hall.

"Uh, Pidge – why are you following us? You're supposed to be guarding our exit." He asked and the Green Paladin glared at him.

"I'm not just gunna sit there and do nothing!"

"No, Keith is right. Pidge we had a plan and it's vital that everyone sticks to it. We all have a role to play. Keith and I need to go find the Red Lion and you need to make sure the Green Lion stays hidden." Shiro explained everything so eloquently and the little Green Goblin (gremlin? – whatever Matt called her!) obliged.

It didn't take long, maybe 2 dobashes total, before he felt the familiar energy. They ran through the halls, dipping into the shadows to avoid detection, and steering clear of sentries and soldiers. In one of the halls, Shiro grabbed his arm, squeezing tightly as he started to hyperventilate. Eventually calming, they took a moment to let the older breathe before continuing. "Are you ok?" He'd asked as they ran down another long hall.

"Yeah, I've been here before. After I was taken by the Galra cruiser off Kerberos, they brought us here."

"I doubt it. I mean - all of these ships are designed to be identical. Wherever you were taken, it would have looked exactly like this one. Same layout, same halls, same everything. Commander Sendak has been stationed in this system for deca-phoebs. You were porbably on Central Command, in their Gladiator pit – not here." He didn't know if that would help or make the situation worse, but it needed to be said. Shiro couldn't be having a panic attack every time they went onto a ship. It took a while, and a lot of deep breathing, but their Black Paladin managed to calm down enough to continue the mission.

They continued down the halls, making their way deeper and deeper into the cruiser. Once they made it to the hangar, Shiro pushed him out of the way. "Galra tech is genetically encoded to their species. My hand is the only thing we have that can interact with it." He placed his cybernetic hand on the pad and the doors beeped open, Keith rolled his eyes; Shiro's hand wasn't the _only_ one that could do that. He said nothing.

Inside, the Red Lion hung suspended within her own particle barrier. He ran up to her, feeling her eyes follow him through the room, and placed his hand on her barrier. It was warm to the touch and he could feel a slight tingling move from his hand up his arm, like the gentle lick of a flame. The Blue Lion had felt like water, but Red – she felt like fire. A fire he was more than willing to let loose, a fire that he felt burning in his very soul, a fire matched only by his own. Staring up at the magnificent Red Lion, he watched as nothing happened. She was waiting.

"Let's get out of here, open up." Nothing. "It's me, Keith, your buddy." Nothing. "It's me – KEITH your – I. Am. Your. PALADIN!" Nothing. Like an absolute idiot – he knocked. It had worked for Lance, but it seemed Red was much pickier than Blue and the knock did absolutely nothing. Instead a series of shots rang out around the hangar and Shiro yelled for him to hurry up. "I'm bonding with you! Hey! Come on! We're connected!" Still nothing. Moving on, he drew his shield and called his bayard, jumping into the fray to help Shiro.

Unlike at the Garrison this was a real fight, one with actual stakes, and Keith didn't have to hold back. He let loose, letting all of his pent up rage and frustration out through his sword. Jumping into the thick of it, he took out 4 of the 6 sentries with ease, leaving the other 2 for Shiro to deal with, and made his way back to the Lion.

"Oh, COME ON! Still nothing? What do you want from me?" This time it wasn't sentries that attacked. Thinking on his feet, knowing they were outnumbered, he yelled at Shiro to activate his facemask before slamming his fist on the console. The hangar bay doors opened immediately, sucking everything out into the vacuum of space, including the two Paladins. He'd tried to hold on, tried to grab Shiro's hand and anchor them both to the console, but a rogue box hit him hard enough to dislodge his grip and they both of them went flying out the hatch. Panic sank in as he immediately tried to think of a solution, something they could do to get back in the ship. Reaching for his com line, he went to message Katie, ask her for an assist with the Green Lion but a large pair of red jaws clamped down around him and the Black Paladin. They were safe, he'd done it – he was officially the Red Paladin of Voltron.

The overwhelming excitement of the moment gave him the adrenaline boost he'd been craving and he ran from the jaw to the cockpit, jumping over the back of the seat to sit at the controls. "Good Kitty." He mused affectionately. "Let's roll."

"Pidge, this is Shiro – we have Red. Roll out!"

"_Rodger that!"_ Less than a dobash later, the Green Lion was flying out to meet them. Keith activated the Lion's internal communications and connected all the Paladins through the Lions instead of their helmets.

_"__You guys made it!"_ Hunk's excited voice filtered through.

_"__Kitty Rose has left the stage!"_ Pidge confirmed cheerfully.

Lance piped in, _"Let's get the heck out of here"_ the rush of battle making his words faster than usual.

_"__I hope I stopped that cannon. I could barely make a dent in it."_ Keith looked back, the damage Hunk had managed to do was severe – but with the drones and sentries, it would take Sendak a varga, tops, to repair it. He didn't say anything – yet. He'd let them enjoy their first tastes of battle for a little while longer before spoiling it.

* * *

When the lions returned to the castle they landed inside Black's hangar, sitting in formation as Shiro waited by the steps. This was it, this was the big moment where they'd either unlock the Black Lion, or spend the rest of the war with only 4 out of the 5. Everyone held their breath, Keith included, and slowly the large door opened revealing the absolute unit that was the Black Lion of Voltron.

Shiro rushed the steps, climbing into his lion, and a loud roar reverberated through the castle, the 4 other lions joining the call. They had Voltron.

_"__Oh quiznak!"_ Coran's voice came over the coms accompanied by a loud alarm.

_"__Sendak is entering the Arusian atmosphere. We need Voltron, now!"_ Allura's orders were immediately followed, everyone still running high off the preceding battle.

A blast from the fully repaired ion cannon hit the castle's particle barrier. He knew what that cannon could do and the fact that it didn't completely decimate the castle's defenses immediately was a testament to how incredibly advanced Altea had been 10,000 deca-phoebs ago. The force of the blast shook the ground upon impact and they all felt the strain of it even from inside their lions.

_"__Man those Galra guys repair stuff fast!"_ Hunk commented over the coms, pointing out what Keith thought was blatantly obvious.

A series of Altean symbols popped up in the far left corner of his screen and he realized that they were not only connected to each other, but to the castle as well. He read the damage report and heard Coran relay the information to the others; the castle's shield couldn't take many more hits like that. Allura promised them temporary cover, but they needed Voltron.

Another blast from the ion cannon rocked their defenses again and Shiro issued a call to arms. _"Listen up, Team Voltron! The only way to succeed is to give it all you've got! This looks bad, but we can do this! Are you with me?"_

Keith felt the call in his very bones. This is what he _lived_ for. His fingers clenched around the controls, his brows set in a hard line, focused and ready for battle. He gave a curt nod of agreement, ready to launch at Shiro's command.

_"__I'm nodding – is everyone else nodding?"_ Hunk's voice came over the coms and Keith sighed a 'Yes' with the others.

_"__Let's do this!" _Shiro called out, and they leapt at his word.

* * *

They had done it. They had formed Voltron and Sendak's ship had been destroyed, Voltron blasting through it like butter. It had been one of the most amazing experiences of Keith's life. Voltron stood at the base of the castle, Sendak's ship exploding magnificently in the sky behind them and Lance – Lance had to go and ruin it.

_"__Cool guys don't look at explosions! They blow things up and then walk away!"_ He sang over the coms.

_"__Who has time to watch an explosion? There's cool guy errands that they have to walk to!" _Hunk chimed in, backing his friend and further ruining Keith's post battle high.

_"__Keep walkin. Keep shinin."_ Shiro contributed in an absolutely ear splitting falsetto.

_"__Don't look back, keep on walkin."_ Lance picked it back up.

_"__Keep struttin'. Slow motion."_ Shiro resumed his falsetto and Keith slammed his hands over his ears.

_"__The more you ignore it -" _Pidge added before all 4 of them belted out _"the cooler you look" _in unison before bursting out into a roaring fit of laughing. Keith groaned.

They exited their lions and collapsed on the front steps of the castle, Allura and Coran rushing out to greet them.

"Good work Paladins!" She cheered, pure joy radiating off her.

"Thanks pretty lady." Keith groaned yet again at Lance, rolling his eyes and moving to stand by Shiro. "Uh, Pidge – what's that?"

"Oh this? It's Rover! While I was waiting for Keith and Shiro, a drone flew over to scan the area and I zapped it then reprogrammed it. We're friends! You like?"

"Uh yeah, sure." Lance didn't sound too convinced but a short explanation from Katie about how useful it could be to have something other than Shiro they could use to interact with Galra tech put everyone on board. Coran had shot Keith a quick look but he merely blushed and ignored the man. He was _waaay_ too tired to get into his heritage at this exact moment. It would have to wait for another day.

Coran and Allura showed them to their rooms and Keith unpacked his bag, being sure to hide his Blade suit in the farthest corner of his closet. He hit the showers and crawled back to his room, barely making to the bed before collapsing from exhaustion. Under his pillow he rested his blade, letting his finger gently caress the wrappings on the hilt, feeling the little pulse of life as the blade thrummed with his own quintessence. His Blade of Marmora communicator lay beside him and he quickly opened it.

{ All personnel successfully evacuated. }

Something inside him finally relaxed. His people were safe. Voltron had been formed, Sendak had been stopped, and the Universe was one step closer to peace.

For the first time since Keith left the Blades, he slipped into a deep and dreamless sleep.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

For any one who doesn't get the song reference: "Cool Guys Don't Look At Explosions" - The Lonely Island

\- KarsKars


	2. Paladin Bonding

**PALADIN BONDING**

Allura, he decided, was a tyrant; she was basically Emperor Zarkon in friendlier packaging. Ok so maybe she wasn't _that _bad, but it felt like she had made it her mission to torture them. So far this quintant the princess had set off the castle's alarm system at insane times; insisting that it was to teach them to remain constantly vigilant, locked down the food goo dispensers in kitchens; stating everyone must 'earn' their meals, and tested the castle's weapons by using the paladins for target practice. They'd flown in after the shooting stopped and collapsed on the couch in a large lounge room. Princess Drill Sergeant had scolded them for slacking but honestly, not one of them actually gave a quiznak. Thanks to her early morning alarms, none of them (aside from Lance) had managed to get a full night's sleep.

Coran had allowed them a short break before taking them to the training deck next and Keith was practically salivating. It was beautiful, large, well equipped, and _beautiful!_ There were endless programs that could be run, each offering increasingly more difficult sequences. The room came equipped with an array of training weapons, specialized setups, a gladiator droid, floating droids, and wall mounted practice guns. There was even an invisible electric maze. He'd looked around the room with wide eyes and an even wider smile, fully intent on spending every spare moment here.

While Keith had been particularly excited to try out the maze, he'd unfortunately been paired with Lance. The Cuban just wouldn't listen to him and argued everything. At first Keith had been genuinely trying to guide him safely through, but after 15 dobashes of his confrontational attitude, the Red Paladin purposefully zapped him a few times. It had been oh-so satisfying.

After the maze, they tried an old paladin bonding technique with their lions instead of each other. Coran darkened their visors, removing their ability to rely on their own eyes, and instructed them to instead rely on the lions. Aside from Shiro, it had been a resounding failure. Keith had done a training sequence that was similar, back with the Blades in their simulators, and was expecting to do fairly well. Once again Lance proved to be his down fall, goading him into a competition. He knew better, he really did, but he'd taken the bait hook, line, and sinker - crashing his lion into a sand dune in a misguided attempt to showup the ever-cocky Lance. The fact that this ridiculously annoying boy could consistently pull Keith into the stupid rivalry, continued to baffle him. He didn't know what mystery spell Lance had managed to cast over him but what ever it was, it sucked! But that wasn't the worst part of their training day – oh no, the worst part of training had been the mind melding headbands.

They'd made their way back inside the castle and were now sitting in a circle on the training deck floor, wearing these headbands that supposedly would sync their minds. Coran had instructed them to focus on Voltron, try image coming together to form Voltron with their minds. Displayed in front of each of them, was a little screen depicting exactly what they were focusing on. He could feel the love of family and a deep longing coming from Lance, a hunger and warm comfort coming from Hunk, a focus and sense of duty coming from Shiro, and a powerful drive coming from Katie. Keith was having a difficult time. He wanted to be open like the others, share and focus as he was supposed to, but he had secrets that needed to be protected, secrets that weren't just his to keep. If he focused on home and family like Lance the others would know of the Blade of Marmora and that he was Galra. If he focused on food and comfort like Hunk the others would be curious about the items and soon discover they were traditional Galran dishes, thus revealing him to be Galra. If he focused on his drive and the war like Katie, his Galran bloodlust would give him away. And if he focused on his duty like Shiro, again the Blade of Marmora could be compromised.

Keith sighed heavily and set his hesitant focus to his father's cabin. He could feel the others at the edge of his consciousness and a sudden sense of stability and strength coupled with the scent of freshly tilled earth fluttered across him. "HUNK! Stay out of my head."

"I thought we were open. You can look in my head hole." Hunk protested, offering a sheepish justification for his actions.

"_Everyone has to be able to look in everyone's head holes! CLEAR YOUR MINDS!"_ Coran shouted down from the observation room. He resumed his command, guiding them through the steps once again and the 5 paladins regained their focused on their lions, concentrating on forming Voltron. The imaginary lions slowly came together, interlocking and merging into the giant robot. Keith felt Hunk's presence again, accompanied by Lance this time, and his focus slipped. For one fleeting moment the view from the Blade's main base could be seen on his little screen. The bright blue star sandwiched between twin black holes flashed before being quickly replaced by his father's face and the Texas desert. It was brief, but it was enough to pull the Red Lion out of Voltron and disrupt the progress they had made.

"Keith!" Lance wined as he ripped the headband out of his thick black hair and chucked it across the room.

"I'm out. I don't want everyone rooting around in my head. Just keep to yourselves." He yelled back at the group and felt their judging eyes burrow into his skull. With the headband removed, they couldn't access his mind like before, but that didn't stop them from trying. He could feel them scratching at his mental walls again, his quintessence sensitivity allowing him to connect even without the stupid headband.

"Oh, come on, Keith. We're starting to get the hang of this." He tried his best but it didn't matter what Shiro said, Keith was done. He didn't want to participate any more; he wanted to be left alone. He wasn't used to this much attention and it was starting to drain his energy levels.

"I'm just – I'm just tired, okay?"

"Okay, let's take a break." Shiro smiled, but there was a concern there that made him nervous. He wasn't going to walk way from this without being questioned and he knew it, but for now Shiro let it go.

They sat in a much looser circle, taking more casual positions, as Coran passed around hydration pouches. "You have been working hard. Maybe it's time to relax a little." He agreed, and a bossy objection alerted them all to the princess' sudden appearance.

"What are you doing lying around? You're supposed to be training!"

"Just resting a bit, you know, you can't push too hard." Coran explained.

"What do you mean 'can't push too hard'? Get up, you lazy lumps! It's time you faced the Gladiator!" Her words were stern and her face set in a hard line. Keith was used to this treatment, his instructors back with the Blade had been hard and unyielding, but this was not how Humans responded best to training. From his experience on Earth, she would cultivate better results with positive re-enforcement and by pulling on their heartstrings.

He continued to sip at the pouch, a slight frown taking over his expression as he watched her disapprovingly. Her domineering stance didn't bother him and he understood the urgency in training the others, but the least she could do was appreciate the effort they had already put in. Plak and Antok had been firm, demanding, and unrelenting; but they had been fair and reasonable. The princess was showing her youth and inexperience with leadership by demanding more than her team was able to deliver.

They found themselves facing off against the Gladiator next and while Keith was incredibly excited, he was also nervous about how the 3 inexperienced cadets would handle themselves. Coran's voice floated over the intercom, providing them instruction on how the fight would progress and what to expect. Soon enough, the Gladiator droid dropped from the ceiling and began its assault.

The droid targeted Hunk first, sensing him to be the easiest and Keith agreed that it was a smart strategy. Lance was surprisingly fast with quick reaction times, Shiro was a skilled and competent fighter who would be quick to defend tiny Katie. Hunk was the easiest target. Within ticks both Hunk and Katie were down with Lance not far behind. The droid moved faster than the Humans could process and it advanced on their long-range shooter with surprising precision, stepping in close enough to negate his weapon and throw him from the ring. Shiro and Keith flanked on either side, coming up to attack simultaneously until the former froze in place, leaving the Red Paladin's left side unguarded. Keith immediately adjusted his intentions and moved to stand in front of Shiro, single handily blocking the Gladiator's staff with his sword.

"Shiro, are you okay?" He asked and the lack of response was worrisome. In a moment of weakness, Keith turned to check on his new leader and was caught off guard by the swift counter attack of the droid. The speed at which it moved was unlike any training droid he'd ever gone up against and the force of its strikes were definitely more than an adult Galra could replicate. He groaned from the blow as he rose off Shiro's body, having been thrown across the room with him.

Allura entered the training deck and stormed her way over to them, crossing the floor with a speed none of their exhausted bodies could manage. "That combat simulator was at a level fit for an Altean child! You're not even close to working as a team, let alone ready to face Zarkon!" She scolded and Keith grimaced. She wasn't serious was she? He knew for a fact there was no way an Altean child could have taken on that Gladiator. She was intentionally lying to the paladins, trying to make them feel inferior and weak, he just didn't know why.

He glared at the princess, silently calling her out, and noticed the slight blush that graced the tips of her cheeks. Still, he said nothing, opting to trust that she had a good reason for her actions.

Finally they'd been allowed to have dinner. Coran had them seated all on one side of the table and immediately Keith felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. Something wasn't right. He looked around the room but nothing seemed out of place; not that he'd know, they had only just arrived at the castle the other quintant. He shifted in his seat slightly, a small buzz tingling up his back and prickling at his nerves. Focusing on the faint energy, he closed his eyes and followed the sensation up his back, across his shoulders, down both arms, and finally originating in his wrists. Keith lifted his right arm and inspected the flesh at the wrist, finding nothing out of the usual he put it back down and felt the slight jolt once again. He looked around at the others, who didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary, then to Coran. The Altean had as slight glint in his eyes that made the young Galra immediately suspicious.

"Smells great, Coran. Thanks." Shiro replied to the man with a warm smile and they all picked up their sporks to begin eating. He felt the buzz in the chair intensify the moment Coran pulled out the remote and, acting strictly on instinct, he lunged from his seat. Though he'd reacted quickly, it didn't matter because the stupid energy cuffs still managed to catch his wrist, even from a good 3 feet away, and they dragged him back despite his protests.

As soon as he was back in his seat Coran began speaking, addressing the entire team with the air of a disappointed teacher. "I saw a lot of solid individual performances today, but you're still struggling to work as a team. So, welcome to the final bonding exercise of the day."

"Coran, I want you to think about what you're doing." Hunk protested, staring the Altean down with a level of hate Keith honestly didn't think the big guy was capable of.

"This one's a classic. You get to feed each other!"

"Like a pack of yalmors?" Keith clarified, his dejected tone relaying that this was _not_ his definition of fun. Stupid quiznaking Alteans.

"EXACTLY!" There was a round of groans and Lance questioned what a yalmor was, but in the end they had managed to defeat the princess and Coran in a giant food fight that had been an absolute riot and really helped with their team work. Who would have thought a food fight would be what unified them and allowed Voltron to be formed.

* * *

Currently, they were sitting on the couch in the lounge, reflecting on how incredible it felt to be a part something as magnificent as Voltron and the rush of power that comes with forming the mighty robot. Keith was feeling the high of victory, his heart racing and his body tingling deliciously. If he wasn't so tired from all of the training they'd done, he would have challenged the Gladiator to a solo match. Instead, he was looking forward to a good night's sleep.

Hunk slid down between Keith and Lance, pulling the two boys into a tight hug. "I just want you to know that I realized when we were in Voltron, we're brothers, man. You know? Like, we're totally connected. No secrets, no barriers, no nothing! Brothers all the way. I love you guys!"

"G-forces mess with your head a little bit?" Keith asked, suddenly feeling the familiar weight of guilt settle back in the pit of his stomach. He did have secrets, he did have barriers.

"Yeah, maybe a little. I don't know. It's been a tough few days." They disbanded after that. Each of the paladins heading off to bed for a well earned rest. Except Keith.

He slowly made his way down the empty halls of the ship, eventually making his way to his room. Without bothering to change, he collapsed into his bed and rolled over to stare blankly up at the ceiling in the dark room, feeling the discomfort of his continued lie. It had been easy at first; he didn't really need to lie to them per say, merely play along as they assumed he was Human. But this was different, they knew now. They knew he was only part Human and eventually they were going to get curious, or worse, they'd fight the Galra and notice similarities and put two and two together. Keith groaned and pulled out his communicator, contacting a familiar face.

"_Young Blade. How may I assist you?"_ Te-Osh stared back at him from the comfort of her reclaimed room. Suddenly he wished he could train places with her new right hand man. Matt would fit in much better with the paladins, the princess wouldn't hate him for something out of his control, and most importantly – Keith could go home. He'd been away from his own people for 2 deca-phoebs now and he wanted desperately to curl up in the comfort of soft, warm Galran bedding instead of this horribly hard and stiff plank the Altean's tried to pass off as a mattress. It wasn't fair, Matt and the rebels that worked under Te-Osh got to enjoy standard Galran living quarters while he had to endure the Altean version. Everything was too bright, too loud, too heavily scented, too stiff, or too rough. He _hated _the castle, he hated the plant based food goo, he hated the way Allura talked about his people, but most importantly, he hated how the others made him ashamed of his species. For the first time in his life Keith felt ashamed to be Galra.

When the Princess talked about the Emperor and the people of the Galra Empire, she talked with such clear venom in her voice. Her words painted his people as a race of monsters desiring nothing but war and destruction. And the worst part of all was that he couldn't even refute her statements. She was right, the Empire really _is_ evil, the Galra really are a warrior race with a strong focus on battle and military training. They are predators by nature; long ago they'd been hunters, now they were soldiers. But there was so much more to them than that. They were fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, friends, lovers – people. People who were blinded by the flashy words of their leader and followed him into a war they can't get out of. A constant fight for more and more quintessence to fuel the Empire, any opposition being systematically squashed, uprisings being trampled, individuality being lost to the faceless masses. His people were lost. They weren't monsters; they were misguided.

He turned his attention back to the communicator. "Can I talk to Matt?"

"_Matt Holt, there is a call for you. Be quick."  
"Hey, Keith! You calling to apologize for not telling me we'd already made first contact when you arrived?"_

Keith chuckled. Matt had a way of lightening the mood no matter what was going on. He smiled at his friend. "Nah, technically my mom was your first contact."

The blond boy nodded, "_That's right. Leave it to Mr. Kogane to meet an alien and decide to stick his dick in it."_

"Hey! Eww – dude! Also, rude!" They two laughed for a bit, Keith's spirits rising steadily the more he talked to the other boy. It had always been easy to talk with Matt; he was friendly and open, unlike Keith, and there was just something about him, some 'quality' that made him super likeable. They hadn't talked since Matt's rescue. Keith had sent a quick message to Te-Osh saying that Shiro had made it back ok, but then he'd been swept up in Voltron.

"So, how's the rebellion?"

"_S'fine. Thanks for letting me know about Shiro." _He smiled but it quickly faded. "_Still working on finding my dad. Are you on your to help? Te-Osh said your signal is coming from a location far away from the system you said Earth is located in."_

"No, change of plans and – well, that's why I'm calling. I need to ask your advice on something."

"_Fire away, buddy!" _Matt's whole face lit up, he was a people person and _lived_ for this kind of thing.

"Did Te-Osh explain who the Blades are?" Matt nodded, and suddenly realisation seemed to click. He looked up at Keith with discerning eyes, taking a moment to study the boy before speaking.

"_I guess your dad had a better experience with the Galra than we did."_ Keith rolled his eyes but nodded. "_So you really are Galra then?"_ He nodded again. "_Huh, guess that explains why you kicked ass in the Garrison simulators and in martial arts class."_ Keith smirked and quirked a brow but chose not to say anything. Instead, he redirected their conversation back on track.

"Matt, I need your advice. I know I need to tell Katie and Shiro, but – after everything he went through, and with your dad still missing, I don't know how they'll react. Is it better if they just don't know, or should I risk them hating me in the name of transparency? You know both of them – what do I do?"

Silence. Matt stared at the communicator for a moment, weighing the options before sighing heavily and offering him a look he definitely didn't want to see, one that said he wasn't going to like what he was about to hear. "_Keith, if there's anything I know about Katie, it's that you need to be honest with her. She'll accept it; she'll accept you. You just need to trust her enough to be honest. Same with Shiro, if he finds out on his own he may never get over it." _Keith huffed, Matt had said exactly what he knew to be true but didn't want to hear.

They talked for a bit. What had started as catching up, ending with Matt rambling non-stop about how cool space was, and about all the neat things he was experiencing, and about how worried he was for his dad. In the end they had both nearly fallen asleep on the other and disconnected before Keith had a chance to explain about Voltron and Katie's involvement. He fell asleep that night feeling much better than he had when he'd first lain down.


	3. Under Attack

**UNDER ATTACK**

As it turns out, you could program the gladiator to fight in the style of different species, and Keith was excited to set it to Altean and Galra. Galra for the familiarity of his native fight style, and Altean purely out of curiosity. But the coolest feature he discovered was that the droid could be set to 'learn' a style through training. He'd set it to 'learn' when ever the other Paladins signed in, and already it was fairly decent at replicating a Human fight style.

The style it came up with was a mix match of Karate, Taekwondo, and boxing due to the 3 Humans having wildly different skill sets. Keith didn't want to 'taint' the results with his own styles and their Green paladin had yet to make an appearance in the training room aside from forced group sessions.

A few quintants ago Katie had pulled him aside, shoving him in a small dark room, and making him instantly nervous and desperate to get out. She'd smacked him on the arm (though he didn't doubt she'd have gone for the head if she could reach) and told him to 'chill out man' as she _locked the door_. He immediately slammed his eyes shut. There was a faint light coming off a jar in the corner, casting an eerie blue glow in a small radius around it, and he knew the room was definitely dark enough for his eyes to slightly glow. There was no way Katie could see him, it was far too dark and even the light from the jar wouldn't be enough to illuminate his face, so he kept his eyes screwed tightly shut and 'stared' right back.

"Open your eyes." She commanded and he nearly complied purely out of shock.

"What?"

"Open them."

"They are open."

"Liar. I know they're closed cause I've seen them glow before. Open your eyes, Keith." He sighed and felt his shoulders slump, she may be small but she was terrifying. After a moment he gave in, opening his eyes and watching hers go wide. "Right, what's your other half?"

He nearly choked. "What?"

"Ugh. Keith I pulled you aside cause we need to talk and I know you're hiding something you don't want every one to know. What. Is. Your. Other. Half?" Her eyes had narrowed and were boring directly into his soul. He sighed again.

"What makes you think it's a secret?" He asked incredulously and she smacked his arm again.

"Cause if you were part – I don't know, Altean -" he snorted " – you would have come right out and told us." That was fair, she was definitely right. "So – what is it? If you don't tell me I'll assume 'worst case scenario'."

Keith winced. He watched her closely in the dark room, his superior night vision giving him the ability to see the emotions as they played out on her face. There was a slight wrinkle beside her eyes, a tight press to her lips, and a wild look spread across her expression. She darted her eyes back and forth between his, craning her neck to stare him down. "Galra." He said deadpan, waiting for a reaction, watching closely to catch the change in her façade.

She didn't react though, instead she maintained her composure and continued to hold his gaze. "I suspected as much." He quirked a brow. "I've been spending most of my time in the archive room here in the castle, reading up on Alteans and the Galra. Their characteristics fit you really well."

"How though? You can't read Altean or are their records in Common? … not that you could read that either." She rolled her eyes at him as if to ask if he were stupid.

"I set the archives to read the content out loud and the castle's translators do the rest. I hear it all in English – wait, what language do you hear everything in?"

He shrugged, no sense denying it now. "I hear you guys speaking English since I'm fluent, and everyone else I hear in Galran since my Altean is garbage and the Arusians don't speak Common."

"You can speak Altean?"

Keith shrugged again "Kinda. I can read and write in Altean just fine but speaking it is really hard." He watched her closely, eventually just out right asking. "How did you put the pieces together?"

"Please, Nancy Drew wishes she had my skills. Back at your dad's cabin there was a picture you drew that had a purple lady in it. Then when we got out here I did some research in the archives and realized everything I read about the Galra fit you perfectly – aside from being tall and purple." He rolled his eyes. By Galra standards he was still quite young, he could easily grow a whole foot yet. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Didn't want to upset you or Shiro or Allura."

"Keith, this is different. You can't choose how you're born, but you can choose who you become." There was a long pause while she gathered the courage to say something and he waited patiently. "Around the others you call me Pidge, but when we're alone you still call me Katie." He nodded, why wouldn't he call her Katie? That's her name after all. "I don't want to be Katie anymore."

"Ok. So just Pidge then?" She nodded and gave him a wary look as he continued. "Um, 'Katie Holt' is a girl, and 'Pidge Gunderson' is a boy. What are you -"

"Neither … both? I don't know. I just – not 'She' and not 'He' but 'They' okay?" They interrupted and Keith nodded. "No big deal? You don't think it's weird?"

"No, why would I think it's weird? Is it weird to Humans? Pidge, I may look passably Human but I'm not – I'm Galra. So to me this isn't really all that strange. Humans make everything so complicated." He groaned and Pidge snickered, almost immediately wrapping their small arms around his torso.

"If you ever tell anyone I hugged you – you're a dead man. Understand?" Laughing he wrapped his arms around the tiny Paladin, squeezing them tightly and rocking from side to side as their legs lifted off the ground and swung wildly in the confined space.

"Love you too, Pidgeon."

* * *

The past few movements had gone by a little faster than expected. They'd been attacked by a robeast, as Hunk had so affectionately dubbed it. The beast had been a former champion of the Gladiator pit; Keith and Shiro had recognized it after a few attacks and the team managed a victory by unlocking Voltron's sword.

For 2 quintants after the battle, Shiro had secluded himself from the team. He remained locked away in his room, reliving some of the more traumatic parts of his time as the Champion, until eventually Keith managed to be allowed in. He'd sat on his former mentor's bed holding some food Hunk had sent along. It was the big guy's way of helping; he had made a serving tray full of 'Sushi' from fish on Arus. Since the planet was so similar to Earth, there were plenty of local substitutes for the ingredients he needed. The alien hand rolls and sashimi were blue, purple, green, and even bright neon pink but Hunk had managed to make them taste exactly how Keith remembered. He'd placed the tray down between him and Shiro, popping a piece of the blue sashimi into his mouth.

"Do you remember the first time you took me for sushi?" Keith asked through a mouthful of food. Shiro gave a weak smile in response, returning slightly to the present as the new memory took over.

"Yeah, you said you hated it, but ate double your weight in rolls."

"I – what? NO! I said I hated the texture of the seaweed salad and that salmon had a weird taste. It was good though."

Shiro actually laughed, breaking his thousand-yard stare to glance up at Keith for the first time. "Oh, right. I remember you nearly killing Matt for the last Dynamite roll."

"THAT ASSHOLE ATE THE WHOLE PLATE! I only got one and he tried to take the last piece too! He deserved it." Keith objected, suddenly transported back to that night and feeling the heat boiling his blood all over again.

"You stabbed him with a chopstick!"

"Pfft. I grazed his arm with it."

"He was bleeding, Keith." The boy shrugged and the two burst out in laughter, spending the rest of the evening going back and forth with funny memories until Shiro had pulled himself together again. About 3 vargas later he'd gotten up to leave, and found himself being pulled into a bone-crushing hug. "Thank you. You're a good friend, Keith."

"Any time."

After that, Shiro had slowly worked through the memories, processing the bits and pieces that came to him and working past the mental blocks. Coran pulled out the awful headbands and used them to guide their black paladin on a meditative journey to tranquility and bliss or whatever. Keith had rolled his eyes and deemed the whole thing to be kooky Altean magic. Like how some Humans believed sparkly rocks could heal them. Then again – who knows! Maybe the rocks on Earth do have healing properties, and maybe a guided tour of your own memories with an eccentric royal advisor / mechanic is great therapy, and maybe Keith is just a cynic. Shiro had certainly looked a lot better afterwards. He'd made comments about getting a better night sleep, and he wasn't losing himself mid training anymore.

Hunk was helping Allura plan a party for the Arusians and Lance was in charge of decorating; something he had been super excited about until he realized there was no PartyCity in space. Which just left Keith and Pidge. This was fine, they got along really well and now that Pidge knew about him being Galra, it made their interactions a little easier. Although, they kept pestering him for a blood sample and information on where Sam Holt was.

"Would you hold still? Are all Galra this squirmy?" Pidge scolded as they worked. Keith was sitting in a chair beside their desk, with an IV line hooked up to his arm and several electrodes placed strategically on his chest. The Green Lion's hangar, which doubled as Pidge's lab, was a little chilly to be sitting in half naked and he'd objected at first until the gremlin threatened him with their zappy bayard. In the end Keith found himself covered in medical equipment while the tiny lump of limbs and dirty blonde hair typed furiously away at their laptop.

"You've been holding back." There was no emotion to their voice, just a blunt scientific observation and Keith blinked in surprise.

"What? How can you tell that from what ever you're doing?"

"If I explained the science would you understand?" He opened his mouth but closed it immediately, they were right.

"No probably not." He shrugged and Pidge smirked victoriously.

"Long story short – the genes that control your aesthetic; your skin tone, hair, eyes, and such are mostly Human. But the rest of your physiology is mostly Galra. It looks like you have both Galran and Human genes active in your eyes and more Galra genes active other places too – like your ears and teeth and hands. Huh, according to this you should have claws."

"I do. I just file them down to keep up appearances. My dad told me I had to and I guess constantly filing them kinda became a habit." He shrugged but it was just now dawning on him that he could stop that particular habit, he could let his claws grow back out again. The thought made him smile and when he looked back at his friend, their grin confused him slightly. "Why are you so happy?"

"I thought I made a mistake, or there was some sort of error with the data processing, but you confirmed the claws and I now know the program I built is accurate." They continued on into a long-winded explanation of how the program worked, what it could detect, how they'd built it, and blah blah blah more stuff Keith didn't really understand. Instead he found himself waking up with a jolt as the gremlin zapped him with their bayard. He let out a loud hiss and they merely grinned wider, bayard still in hand.

Keith watched as it came closer, noting how the bright green edges almost seemed to glow brighter and felt a sudden urge to remove himself from the situation. Ripping the IV line from his arm and vaulting over the small Human in one smooth motion, he landed on his feet and spun around to catch their arm at the wrist as it moved to connect the bayard to his side. He hissed again and twisted their wrist behind their back as he pried the bayard from their grip.

"Zap me again and I'll introduce you to _my_ bayard." They'd rolled their eyes but agreed to back down saying they had enough data for now and that Keith was free to go. Except – he didn't really have anywhere else to go, so he opted to resume his place in the seat (sans medical testing equipment).

"Don't you have anything you can be working on?"

"I guess I could do my homework." They quirked a brow as they looked at him.

"You know we don't actually have to hand in our final projects while IN SPACE right?"

He snickered; of course they thought he meant the Garrison. "No, my work for Ms. Proxa. I have to write an essay about the legends of Oriande, then compare and contrast the Altean Alchemists and Galran Druids." He groaned and threw his head back against the seat. "Wanna write it for me?"

"Nope. But I'll help you with the research!" Keith nodded and Pidge shut down her program and laptop before they left the Green Lion's hangar. "So, why are you studying this?"

He shrugged. "I was just starting my Altean studies when I left for the Earth mission. Ms. Proxa said I needed to keep up my studies even though I was gone."

They made their way to the archives room while they discussed his lessons. Opening the door and stepping inside, he was greeted by something he had not been expecting. The room was large and dark, one of the few places on the entire castle that didn't blind him, and filled with long rows of tables and row after row of bookshelves. Like the medbay, the actual room was two steps down after entering the door. Directly inside, on the slight entry platform, was the console Pidge was currently standing in front of. He made his way to stand next to them and read the Altean words in the center of the screen. They explained that not all of the archived information had been digitized and some of the records were still only available in their physical form. There was a small button linking to the categorization key, and another that would display a map of the archive room. Before he could choose any of the options, Pidge hit the flashing blue button on the top right corner. A familiar soft voice sounded in the room, echoing off the long abandoned isles and dusty shelves.

{ Welcome. To begin your search of the archives, please say 'SEARCH' }

"Search" Pidge spoke and the console lit up, accepting their response.

{ Please clearly state the information you are searching for }

"Oriande" Keith spoke up and watched the system blink again.

{ Searching Archive … 71 Results Found }

"Search: Comparison of Altean Alchemists and Galran Druids" Pidge called again and shrugged their shoulders at Keith's questioning look.

{ Searching Archive … 2 Results Found }

"Well that narrows it down!" They called. "Let's start there!"

The documents were of course archived in Altean, however the castle offered written translations in 5 available languages: Common, Dalterion, Nalquodi, Rygnirathian, and Galran. Keith immediately recognized these as the languages of the original paladins, plus Common, and wondered if the Emperor himself had been the one to complete the Galran translations. If it had been him, then he would have read everything in these archives. Was that why his witch accompanied him at all times?

He opened one of the files and selected 'Language: Galran' for himself and 'Language: Altean (Default)' for Pidge; the castle would translate it to English anyway. Two vargas later, Keith had most of the information he needed for the report. Even going so far as to download a copy of 'The Mysteries of Oriande; Diving into the Legend' so he could send it to Ms. Proxa and Ms. Drezlia knowing they would both be salivating at the chance to read it. Hey, maybe he'd get bonus points.

Keith left the archives, leaving Pidge behind, and made his way to his room. Sitting on his bed he pulled out his Galran data pad and began his assignment. The more he read, the more he started to notice just how corrupted the Druids had become. They were nothing like they used to be, a bastardized version of their former glory. Instead of being uniquely gifted Galra with the ability to sense and manipulate quintessence, they were now horrifying monsters who barely even qualified as Galra anymore. He shuddered at the thought until a new one popped into his mind; perhaps, buried deep in the archives, there was a way for him to learn the old ways. He resolved to go back another quintant and look, without Pidge this time.

* * *

The rest of the movement went by incredibly slowly, Keith spending most of his free time either on the training deck or in the archives. As predicted, both of his teachers had been chomping at the bit to get their claws on more texts, drilling him about where he had found such incredible works. Grinning, he'd told them to speak with Kolivan.

Before any of them knew it, the celebration had already arrived and various Arusians were filling up the front entry of the castle. The snacks came out and the drinks were shared around, people were chatting and dancing and generally having a really great time; the party was going fairly well. Keith stood off to the side, large parties were not his thing and socializing with other species could be complicated. It didn't take long for Lance to saunter over and join him.

Lance was good company. The tanned skin boy was personable, funny, easy to talk to, and incredibly engaging. Keith leaned against the wall and listed to Lance talk, not really hearing him, but enjoying his presence nonetheless. The Arusians had prepared a skit depicting the battle between Voltron and the robeast, and if their 'dance of apology' was anything to go by this was about to be epic.

The skit was terrible.

He'd been right; it was amazingly entertaining, so bad it was great. Standing next to Lance the two chuckled and snickered throughout the production, earning a few mildly offended glares from nearby Arusians.

"Arus will be the first planet in the Voltron Alliance." Allura had said in the most diplomatic voice he'd ever heard. Clearly her strong suit was politics.

The Arusian King celebrated by shouting "HOORAH!" to which all of the Arusian people responded with an equally loud "HEE HEE!"

"We oughtta get something like that." Hunk's voice came from the crowd and Keith would never ever, not in a million deca-phoebs, admit that he had been surprised by the boy's sudden appearance.

"Like what?" Lance asked, popping out his hip and moving his attention from Keith to Hunk.

"You know, like, a cheer. Like, a team cheer that we do."

"Mm-hmm. Yeah, okay. How about, uh … I say VOL and you say TRON. VOL!" He left the line hanging; moving his gaze back to Keith at the end and the young Galra froze. They didn't have 'catch phrases' or 'team cheers' in the Blades or even in the Empire. It just wasn't a very _Galra _thing to do. They had their salutes but that was it. Suddenly it dawned on him that Lance was waiting for something – was he supposed to reply? What was he supposed to say?

"Uhh … Voltron?" He answered, still incredibly confused by the whole situation.

"No! Nonono the cheer includes the instructions. I say VOL and you say?"

"Voltron?"

Lance sighed and popped his hip out again, leaning into a much more casual stance as he dismissed Keith and his inability to grasp Human culture. "We'll work on it." The Cuban downed his entire cup of nunvil that he'd been holding and immediately convulsed, a violent shiver running through his entire body as he choked down the offending liquid. "Coran, what is this?" Lance looked like he was about to puke and Keith stifled a laugh. Nunvil wasn't great, but it wasn't _that_ bad.

"Oh, this is nunvil, the nectar of the gods."

"It tastes like hot dog water and feet." Keith nearly lost control at Lance's description. To him, nunvil tasted like berries that were well past their prime.

"Yeah, makes a wonderful hair tonic as well." The Altean proceeded to splash some of his alcohol into his moustache and pranced away, leaving Lance to vomit on the floor. The poor boy just stood there, frozen in place as he tried to regain his faculties. Keith and Hunk tried to their best to pull him out of it, Keith had even poked him, but it only ended with the Cuban falling over and immediately passing out.

"Do we – uh, do we take him to his room?" Hunk asked as he poked Lance's side with his foot.

"Nah, just drag off to the wall. Nunvil isn't _that_ strong, see?" He grabbed a cup off a passing tray and took a sip – only to immediately spit it out all over Hunk.

"AHH my eyes!" Keith felt absolutely horrible for all of 2 tics until the big guy turned around with berry pops in his eyes. They burst out laughing and dragged a groaning Lance over to the wall. Clearly 10,000 deca-phoeb old Altean nunvil was very different from Galran nunvil. Just as Keith dropped his feet, Lance opened his eyes, staring at him and raising a brow in question.

"Uh, you passed out. We were being good teammates and moving you out of the way and -"

"Yeah yeah yeah, save it Mullet. Just, help me up would you?" He reached out his hand and, with an exaggerated eye roll, Keith bent down and pulled him to his feet. Lance stared at him a moment, a blush creeping over his face. "You can let go now. I'm up." Immediately Keith dropped his hand, sputtering about … something! His brain had gone into meltdown mode and random sounds just started pouring out. He had no clue what he was saying and no clue how to make it stop. "What language is that?" Lance asked with a head tilt and Keith died. He dropped all pretense of being suave and just hightailed it out of there, deciding to locate Pidge.

He'd found them siting cross legged against a wall talking to their droid, Rover, and interrupted the 'conversation' by abruptly plopping down beside them. "I'm a moron."

"Yup."

"You're not supposed to agree with me."

"Then don't say things that are true." They didn't even bother to look up from the floating tray they were tinkering with. Keith groaned. "Why? Are you just figuring this out now? What did you do?"

"Lance -"

"Bout time." They muttered, interrupting, and Keith smacked their arm. "Ow!"

"If you'd let me finish – Lance drank a bunch of nunvil and I may have held his hand and uh, stammered in Galran." This got their attention and they looked up from their project to blink owlishly at him then roll their eyes dramatically.

"Moron." They deadpanned and Keith nodded, letting his head fall back against the wall.

The night progressed much the same way, everyone partying and having a good time and Lance attempting to drink more nunvil before leaving. Eventually Allura made her way over and stood in front of the Red and Green paladins, the mice sitting atop her shoulders. "Hello Keith, Pidge. We haven't had a chance to really talk. Tell me about yourselves." She smiled brightly and the two paladins exchanged nervous looks.

"Gee, has anyone seen Shiro? No? I'll go find him! Bye!" He jumped up and darted away, feeling Pidge's hateful glare burning the back of his neck. Once he was clear of Allura and her personal questions Keith paused to finally take a breath. Shiro was standing outside the castle running what appeared to be a standard perimeter check. Keith weaved through the waist height Arusians, making his way over to his friend and headed out of the castle.

"Shiro, what are you doing? The party's inside."

"Yeah, I just – I wanted to make sure the castle was secure. With all these people coming and going you can never be too sure." He stared at the man and placed his hand on his broad shoulder.

"Want some help?"

A warm smile, almost seeming relieved, greeted him. "Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks, Keith." He gave a curt nod of agreement and Shiro directed him to circle from the North side while he went around the South side. They split up and Keith hummed an old Galran folk tune as he trudged along the side of the castle.

It wasn't long before he sensed something off. Pausing and pretending to catch his balance, he scanned the bushes with his eyes and ears, the dim nighttime sky making it much easier for him to see than the bright lights of the castle. A slight movement caught his attention but he pretended not to notice, letting his gaze fall over the spot and continue on. He turned his head slightly and refocused his attention on the moving shadow from the corner of his eyes, at this angle he would appear to be looking elsewhere.

This time the shadow fully moved locations, sliding out from behind the bush and darting into the cover of a nearby tree. Keith feigned a yawn and leaned against the castle, pretending to steady himself against it as Shiro rounded from the other side.

"You alright?" He asked with a slight chuckle mixed with his concern. To the unknowing eye Keith appeared drunk.

"Yup, just uh – testing the castle's stability. It's stable!" He joked and Shiro chuckled again. "Care to walk me back? I'm totally fine – but I think my legs are a little drunk."

The Black paladin barked out a laugh this time. "Sure." He said with a smile and they headed back the way Keith had come. What ever was out there – it was wearing Empire armour that much he had seen, and if they wanted in – Keith would be ready.

He walked back into the castle with Shiro and Rover flew by, nearly smacking Keith in the side of head as he tripped over a particularly small Arusian. They made their way over to where Hunk, Allura, Pidge, and Rover were and - WAIT, Rover?

"Something's not right." Keith said in a slight panic and received some questioning stares in return. "Rover just flew by – but Rover is right here."

"Keith, buddy, maybe stay away from the nunvil ok?" He narrowed his eyes at Hunk and the big guy backed down with a blush.

"I'm not drunk and I'm not hallucinating. Something's wrong, I can feel it." At that moment a loud explosion went off and the entire castle shook from the force. They immediately lost power and the Arusians scattered, screaming their heads off as they fled to their village. Allura and the 4 present paladins ran off in the direction of the bridge.

When they arrived, the smoke was just starting to clear, revealing Coran's semi conscious form in the entry way. The Altean moved to sit.

"What happened?" Shiro asked; his voice filled with urgency.

Coran groaned. "I'm not sure."

Allura noticed the destroyed crystal first, she also noticed Lance first. Shiro rushed to his side, picking up the injured paladin and giving him a quick once over. With no power the medbay was useless, and without a new Balmeran crystal the power couldn't be restored. Keith quickly surveyed the room; it was bad, very bad. The fact that Lance was even still alive was a testament to the effectiveness of their Paladin armour.

There were chunks of shattered crystal all over the main area of the bridge, and the metal arms that held the crystal were bent out of shape. Scorch marks lined the walls of the room and a twisted clump of metal and wires lay off to the side. Keith stepped back from the group and walked over to the now destroyed droid, picking it up and looking through the remains for the memory chip but it had been melted. Moving on, he rejoined the group and listened as the Arusian King begged for assistance.

They agreed that Hunk would accompany Coran to acquire a new crystal from a nearby Balmera, Keith and Allura would check on the village, and Pidge would help Shiro tend to Lance. Everyone went their separate ways and Keith pulled Coran aside under the pretense of checking him over.

"I'm fine dear boy! Number 3 saved me."

"That was admirable of him. But it's not why I pulled you aside. Coran, there is only one Balmera in this system and it's been taken over by the Empire as a mining colony. You're going in a pod instead of a lion – make sure you take more than just Hunk's bayard." Coran nodded, his face falling slightly and Keith understood. The Empire's reach was far and all consuming.

He joined Allura on the ridge of the village after they'd parted ways. Everything was on fire and a cluster of droids stood in the center of the flames. Something wasn't right. The Empire droids never stood still and they wouldn't have let the Arusians stand so nearby to watch. He felt a tingle run up his spine and narrowed his eyes to focus more clearly on what he was realizing had been a distraction. "Allura! We need to get back to the castle! NOW!"

She trusted his instinct and didn't question him. The two ran towards the castle at each of their maximum speeds. Keith knew he was substantially faster than the average Human, but he was completely taken aback by the speed the princess managed. She kept his pace, stride for stride, and they reached the castle in record time.

"Keith, the particle barrier!" He looked up and to his great horror; the particle barrier of the castle was being activated. He used the jet pack of his suit and burst through the final gap as the barrier crashed down behind him. "GO. They have control of the castle. They're taking Voltron! You have to stop them. I will do what I can from out here." He gave her a curt nod and tore off down the dark hall, part of him relishing in the fact that the lights in the castle were finally a decent level. Too bad it was because of quiznaking Sendak!

" – the castle for take off." Sendak's voice came into focus as Keith rounded a corner.

"Yes, Commander." He knew that voice, it was Haxus; Sendak's right hand man and the lieutenant who had killed the first operative the Blade of Marmora stationed in the Commander's crew. Keith had known that Blade, not personally but he had trained with her a few times back on the main base. Her death had been hard to hear.

A thick hate boiled in his veins. He knew this feeling; it was what would carry him to victory. He got closer to the bridge, waiting for a chance to strike and distantly heard Allura speaking with Pidge over the headsets. His mind was hyper focused on it's target, all other input was inconsequential, and he only barely registered that Pidge was going to attempt to disconnect the primary turbine. Taking stalk of the room, he saw that both Lance and Shiro were unconscious, which meant as long as they stayed down they would be safe. Shiro was smart, he would understand that immediately and Lance was too hurt to move. It was Pidge that would need backup.

Keith used the scanner in his wrist gauntlet to locate the Green Paladin and made a dash to their location except, it changed. He adjusted course and headed off for the training deck where they were now located, upon arriving he found they had already left. A trap door was open and the remains of a severed droid lay on the ground while another bounced around trapped inside the invisible maze. Backing up a few steps, he took a running start and used his momentum to run along the walls of the room, avoiding the maze and jumping through the trap door.

Keith followed the tunnel until he came out the other side, still no signs of the smallest Paladin. Checking his gauntlet again he found their signal back in the main engine room and with a hearty groan he once again adjust his destination. There was a jolt of electricity inside the room; he watched the door panel glitch uncontrollably as it short-circuited. Fearing the worst Keith rushed for the door and began to manual pry it apart.

"- not a child. I'm a Paladin of Voltron." Pidge's determined voice drifted through the small crack followed by an arrogant laugh.

"Let me tell you something, child. I'm a soldier of the Galra Empire. Nothing stops me but Victory or Death." A loud yell accompanied the clash of weapons and Keith felt himself worry for his friend and pushed every ounce of energy he had into opening the door. He listened to Pidge's grunts as they fought around the room, avoiding Haxus' weapon and trying to stand their ground.

The moment the doors opened wide enough for him to slip through, he rushed towards the conflict. "Nowhere left to run. Nowhere left to hide." Haxus' taunt echoed in the metal room and he raised his arm back to make the killing blow.

Keith pulled his blade, feeling it transform in his hands and the quick pulse of life reacting to his will. Slicing it through the air he swiftly severed the soldier's right hand, savouring the clang as the sword crashed to the floor. "Vrepit Sa, Lieutenant." Keith spat in his native Galran as Haxus screamed in pain. Spinning around the Empire soldier's eyes widened and took in the paladin armour and his dripping blade.

"A Galra paladin?" He snorted, "No – a _halfbreed_ paladin." Keith hissed violently at him, raising his blade again and colourfully cursing him out in Galran. The blade met it's target, cutting cleanly across his throat and Keith growled as he kicked the man backwards, the silent screams almost echoing as he fell down the engine shaft.

"_Haxus, report in."_ Sendak's voice came over the com and Keith rushed over to help Pidge stand. The green paladin ran to the console and bellowed into it going back and forth with the Commander until Shiro's screams filled the room.

"We have to help him!"

"Pidge, we cant just run to Sendak without a plan. We need to get the particle barrier down so Allura, Hunk, and Coran can get in the castle."

"Fine. What do you suggest?"

"I'll go after Sendak, you take down that particle barrier and get to Allura."

"_Keith? Pidge? Can you hear me? I contacted the mice. They're taking down the particle barrier. Is everything alright in there?"_ Allura's voice came over their coms.

"Ok, change of plans. Pidge, you come with me to the bridge. The mice can get the barrier down. Allura, meet us on the bridge when you get in."

Pidge nodded their agreement and the two immediately took off running, Allura's "_Right, okay!"_ sounding in their helmets as they tore down the hall.

Sendak had Shiro and Lance lying off to the side, the latter of which was returning to consciousness. Keith and Pidge stopped outside the bridge doors, and listened to him taunt Shiro about attacking Earth. Pidge couldn't take it; they activated a hologram from their gauntlet and Sendak charged after the figure.

Running into the room, Pidge rushed for Shiro and Keith felt a tingling sensation crawling up his spine, the urge to duck to the side was over whelming. His gut had never let him down before so he listened, jumping swiftly to his right in time for Sendak's massive arm to wiz by his head, wrapping its claws around Pidge's tiny form.

"You really thought your little hologram trick would work with me?" He jeered and Keith pulled his bayard this time, hearing Allura running into the room as he did so. "Stand back." Sendak commanded them but immediately dropped Pidge as he was shot in the back by Lance. In a fleeting moment of wakefulness, the Blue paladin had shot a blast that wasn't powerful enough to cause damage, but was successful in diverting Sendak's attention. Shiro lunged, rushing to his feet to attack with his hands still secured behind his back.

Sendak kicked him back easily and Keith jumped into the fray. Slicing his bayard's blade against the armour and flying into a series of jumps, kicks, blocks, and strikes. His training as a Blade took over, instinct leading him through the fight. Pidge and Shiro intervened, the former using their bayard to sever Sendak's connection with his robotic arm, while the princess dashed for the console.

He saw the small particle barrier base light up around the crystal. "KEITH, NOW!" The princess yelled from across the room and he jumped, using Sendak's grip on his sword as leverage and kicking off just as the barrier rose in to place. Sendak now segregated from the rest of them. Pidge immediately ran to sever the cuffs around Shiro's wrists, helping him up into a sitting position as Keith rush to check on Lance.

"Lance, are you ok?" He knelt down beside the Blue paladin and clasped his hand, pulling him up with great effort. Lance's strength was waning and Keith could see how badly he needed rest and medical attention. A deep unexpected worry settled in his gut.

Lance leaned forward, groaning with the strain, and clasped his hand tightly. There was a soft look in the Cuban's eyes as he turned his gaze from the ground to meet Keith's. "We did it. We are a good team." His words hit harder than the Red paladin thought they would. The slight upturned smile, the gentle look, and the calm tone of his voice all combined to hit Keith with a force he was not prepared for. His own expression softened immediately and he smiled back at the boy.

They stayed like that for a moment, staring between each other with soft smiles, hands held tight, as the chaos rained around them. Shiro and Pidge were making their way to the medbay with Allura close behind, while Sendak banged his fists against the barrier. All too soon, the magic was over and Lance's eyes rolled back in his head as he passed out.

It took Keith a tic to realize what happened but, as his brain came crashing back to reality, he scooped up the injured Blue paladin and carried him bridal style down to the medbay. Running through the large door he placed the boy on one of the metal tables that had sprung from the floor. Allura pulled out a mess of fabric and instructed Keith to strip Lance's armour. Which he promptly did.

Lance lay on the metal table clothed solely in his skin-tight black flight suit. The too-bright lights of the medbay illuminated each and every one of the cuts, scrapes, burns, and soon-to-be bruises on the visible skin. He groaned quietly and shifted his body around uncomfortably on the table, though he remained unconscious the entire time as Shiro switched his flight suit for the specialized pod suit Allura provided.

Giving them some privacy Keith moved to stand by the pods, taking the opportunity to marvel at the incredible piece of technology. He'd read about the pods in his files from Ms. Proxa, and through legends of the Ancient Alteans, but to see one in person – to see it in USE; this was truly magnificent. Keith looked over the screen, reading the current configuration and noting that it was still set to Altean biology.

"The pod will perform a scan on Lance once he is inside, and adjust it's settings accordingly. Not to worry." Allura beamed brightly beside him and he offered her a tepid smile in return. She tapped a few buttons, one saying 'New Species. Data Archive: Active' and he turned to give her a questioning look. "Oh it's nothing, just making sure the pods are 'good-to-go' as you Humans say. After the power failure it is wise to be cautious." Again her voice was full of cheer but Keith knew she was lying. He could read the buttons; why would she lie? He could call her out but that would mean admitting that he could read Altean and _that_ would mean explaining just _how_ he'd learned it which would mean explaining that he was Galra.

He sighed and watched as Lance was loaded into the pod, the barrier sealing around him and the pod whirring to life. Too much was happening at this moment, he'd tell them all later; when Lance was safe.


	4. Detour

**DETOUR**

Lance would need an entire quintant in the pod according to Coran. There was no reason to hang around the medbay until it was time for it to release their Blue paladin, so they found themselves on clean up duty. Keith and Allura were assigned to the damage in the bridge, Coran was cleaning up the mess of the party, and the other three paladins were helping the Arusian's repair their homes and village from the fire.

Keith's job was simple; clear the bridge of debris, replace the corrupted Empire crystal with the new one, and transport Sendak to the cryopod. The princess had used the console in the bridge to send a series of electric shocks from the barrier into Sendak, effectively knocking the Commander unconscious. It wouldn't last long so Coran had given them a spray to mist in his face the moment the barrier came down. For this, Allura needed to be out of the bridge and Keith needed to be wearing his helmet to avoid breathing in the chemical and knocking himself out in the process. After the display in his visor read that the air was safe once again, he removed the helmet and began dragging the limp body.

Sendak was large and _heavy. _Keith struggled under his weight as he lugged the hulking mass of a man towards the bridge door. Every so often a particularly loud groan caused him to freeze, but Coran's spray did the trick and the Commander remained unconscious as he was placed in the cryopod. These pods were different from the ones in the medbay where Allura and Coran had been found. He looked around the room, taking in how different it was from everything else in the castle.

The lighting was dimmer here. The room, long and narrow, was more akin to a hallway than an actual room, especially when compared to the bright round rooms that were more common in the castle. The walls were lined with pods, each pod paired with a canister to its immediate right. Like everything else the Alteans created, nothing was labelled; there was no way to know what the canisters were for. Actually, now that he looked closer, they resembled a holding tank of some sort. Inside each tank was a strange ethereal liquid; it sloshed around slowly even though the castle wasn't moving. The slow, steady, graceful motion of the liquid was captivating and Keith felt himself drawn to it.

He tapped the glass of the tank and Allura snapped at him, chastising him for touching things he didn't understand. He'd rolled his eyes but moved away from the tank nonetheless. Keith watched as the princess typed a series of commands into the control panel of Sendak's pod. He hovered slightly in an attempt read the screen, but only managed to catch a few of the settings, Allura's form blocking the rest from view.

{ System Setting: CryoSleep }  
{ Duration: Indeterminate }  
{ Species: Galra }  
{ Consciousness: On }  
{ Paralysis: On }  
{ Extraction: On }

"Why are you leaving him conscious?" He commented before his brain caught up to his mouth.

"So that we can extract valuable memories and hopefully find something that might be of use to us, perhaps even granting Voltron an edge against Zarkon." She waived him off as she typed away, pausing after a few tics to turn her scrutinizing gaze on Keith who had paled considerably at her response. The princess narrowed her eyes and jabbed a manicured finger into his chest. "How do you know what the configuration says? Can you read Altean?" His eyes shot wide and he felt the immediate blush cross his face. There was no way to explain his knowledge without admitting the truth, or partial truth at least.

Keith nodded and glanced down at her finger, still harshly digging into his chest. He quirked a brow and, in dreadfully broken Altean, responded. "Princess? Do you mind?"

Allura snickered, pulling her hand back to instead cover her mouth in a futile attempt at suppressing impending giggles. "Oh my, your Altean it terrible." She continued, the fit of giggles spilling out as Keith groaned and rolled his eyes.

He switched back to English before addressing her incredibly concerning answer. "My Altean isn't great, but what's _terrible_ is rooting around in someone's head and forcing them to hand over their memories. This doesn't feel right Princess. It feels like – like something Haggar would do, not Voltron."

Allura stilled at the comparison, immediately shifting from laughter to menacing glare in the blink of an eye. "You will NOT compare me to that witch. Memory extraction is an ancient Altean tradition performed to transfer and preserve knowledge from one generation to the next. I will NOT have you soiling the reputation of Altean Alchemy by associating it with Galran Druid magic." She practically spat her words and Keith felt his stomach drop. She was right to treat the Druids with disdain, and she was right that Hagar was an evil witch, but she _wrong_ about Galran Druid magic. It wasn't evil or lesser than her alchemy it was just different. The old ways of the Druids were about quintessence manipulation just like Altean Alchemy; using quintessence for energy and healing – not the cheap imitations they had become.

He could feel the hate imbued directly into Shiro's prosthetic, the pain and rage that emanated off the robeasts, and the suffering Haggar's experiments had caused. He _knew_ what pure quintessence felt like, and that wasn't it. Everything the witch had a hand in creating felt tainted, corrupted, and empty. The old ways didn't do that - they _couldn't_ do that, Druid magic just didn't work that way. Altean Alchemy could though; it was different, served different purposes, and used different methods. What the witch was doing was closer to alchemy and, as someone who would have been trained in the old ways before the war; it bothered him that Allura didn't see that. She was so quick to assume the worst of his people and associate anything Galra with evil.

"Whatever Haggar is doing, it isn't Galran Druid magic, it's something else. She uses Druids, she corrupts them and uses them as her pawns; they're nothing more than disposable tools. The Witch takes quintessence sensitive kits and corrupts them until they can't even be classified as Galra any more. It's vile and disgusting. I'm sorry for comparing your alchemy to Haggar but don't compare her minions to true Druids because they aren't, they're twisted abominations." He was seething. It took every ounce of control he had not let his fury show. A soft purr sounded in the back of his mind and Keith pulled on it for support, feeling himself calm slightly from Red's constant presence. After a deep breath he changed the topic. "Is Sendak's pod sealed? We should go check on Lance." He spoke quietly, though he met her gaze head on. He was Galra, and the Galra were _not_ ones to back down.

She watched him for a moment before seemingly deflating, losing whatever internal battle she had been fighting. "Lonce will not be released from the pod until next quintant." Her words were soft and kind, though a little hesitant and he realized there was something standing between them, a cultural blockage that prevented them from fully understanding one another. The other Paladins didn't seem to have this problem, to them Allura and Coran were just aliens, but to him they were _Altean_. The knowledge and guilt of what his people had done to theirs, the pain and suffering the Emperor had caused, and his ever-present deception all swirled together in his gut to make him feel slightly nauseous in her presence. It wasn't the princess' fault, and it wasn't his fault; it just _was._ Keith sighed, maybe the lying was his fault, but that was only because he knew she held deep seeded hatred for his people and he wasn't ready to deal with that just yet.

"Right." He gave a curt nod; there was nothing he could in the medbay. "I'll just head back to the bridge and finish cleaning up." He didn't wait for her response. Bowing at his waist, head tilted slightly to the left, Keith left.

The rest of the clean up took the remainder of the quintant. He stopped for half a varga to grab some food goo, then continued straight through till dinner. Removing the Empire crystal had been fairly difficult. The crystal was heavy and bulky, making it difficult to handle, but it also gave off a sour feeling that made Keith's more aggressive nature come bubbling to the surface.

Coran had walked in on quite the scene when Keith became over whelmed and pulled out his bayard to begin attacking the crystal. He knew his eyes had changed, he could feel it, and he knew his teeth were bared but he honestly hadn't cared. The Altean left a bowl of food goo on the Red Paladin console and exited the room without a word, merely whistling to himself as went.

The break had calmed him down quite a bit, but the moment he touched the crystal the anger was back. He managed to finish his project, disposing of the tainted crystal and replacing it with the pure one. While sweeping up the debris, Keith had pocket one of the larger shards. He'd learned that Balmeran crystals could be used to enhance quintessence manipulation after spending vargas in the archives with Pidge. The Druids of old had used them to focus their abilities and Keith felt he could use the texts and the crystal shard to hone his own.

As night fell on planet Arus, the paladins each went their separate ways; exhausted from the quintants efforts. Keith found himself in his room, sitting on the edge of his bed, and staring down at his knife. His thumb traced gingerly over the sigil and the responding pulse of quintessence resonated inside him. He'd had a chance to tell Allura the truth and he'd run away like a coward. Guilt and embarrassment hung over him, draping themselves around him like a cape and he sighed. The knife returned to its home under his pillow, this time accompanied by the crystal shard, and he lay down. The dimly lit, but not dark, Altean room with its stiff mattress and scrip blanket eventually leading him into a fitful night's sleep.

* * *

They gathered in the medbay, crowding around the pod. Lance was due to emerge any moment and the entire crew was anxiously waiting. Keith, Allura, Hunk, and Pidge were standing directly in front of the pod studying the display, the latter of which had their face pressed tightly against the pod door.

"I can't tell if he looks healthy or not." Hunk commented, glancing at the Altean medical report displayed on the screen in confusion.

Pidge had both hands on the glass and crinkled their nose. "I think he's breathing weird." They contributed and Keith had had enough.

"Oh, come on!" Since he and Allura were the only ones who could actually read the Altean count down, he knew there were only a handful of tics left. Impatiently he tapped the commands to over ride the preset time and felt his hand promptly swatted away.

"Not yet! A few more tics." Allura scolded.

"How much better do you think he's gonna get in a few more tics?" He objected with a pouting as he crossed his arms and huffed.

Pidge interjected, interrupting his suddenly sullen mood with a question he thought was pretty self-explanatory. "And what exactly is a tic?" Keith rolled his eyes and tried to explain but the Princess beat him to it.

"You know, a time slice."

"Like a second?" Shiro asked from where he stood behind the group.

"What is a 'second'?" Keith smirked at the princess' confusion. He had been confused by Earth terminology once as well, but it had become second nature to him now.

Arms still crossed, scowl still firmly in place, Keith nodded his head to confirm Shiro's question. Pidge however, held up their Earth phone, opening the stopwatch app and clearly displaying the counter. It beeped rhythmically, _ticking_ way with each passing second. Clearly 'tic' was the superior word. He rolled his eyes again as the princess leaned in to exam the primitive technology.

"I'm not sure, I think tics are bigger." Keith nodded to her words, mumbling 'they are' under his breath. "Coran, do you have a ticker?" She carried on.

"Right here Princess!" The moustachioed man immediately whipped around, ticker in hand.

Hunk and Pidge studied his beeping device carefully before Hunk spoke up. "I think tics are a little slower."

"I can't tell. We have to start them at the same time." Pidge ordered and Coran enthusiastically agreed, counting them down to begin. Once again, Keith rolled his quiznaking eyes.

Nevertheless he found himself migrating over to the group, watching as the two devices beeped slightly out of sync from one another.

"YES, I think we're winning!" Hunk cheered and Keith glowered at him.

"Winning what? The intergalactic time-measuring competition?" He sarcastically jeered.

"Yes." Hunk scolded without missing a beat. Keith picked up a weird hissing sound in the background and suddenly Lance stumbled up to watch, jumping in with commentary of his own. Keith was so surprised by the Cuban's abrupt reappearance that he was genuinely glad to see him alive and well.

"You guys having a clock party?"

"Ugh, Lance you just ruined it – Hey, LANCE!" in the blink of an eye Lance was completely enveloped by the massive arms of their yellow paladin, the thin boy being lifted off the ground by the larger.

"What happened?" Lance asked, still in a haze.

"We can tell you all about it while you get something to eat. Are you able to walk?"

"Talking? Eating? Are you asking me out on a date?" Lance asked cheekily, flirting with Allura once again as the princess folded her arms and scowled at him.

"Yep. There he is."  
"He's ok."

Pidge and Shiro simultaneously fluffed off his behaviour and Keith felt an already prominent frown cementing into place. "Classic." He added to the chorus.

They made their way to the dining hall and Coran placed a bowl of food goo in front of Lance. The boy didn't hesitate to dive in as the princess recounted the events of the battle Lance had been unconscious for.

"You wouldn't have survived the explosion if Hunk and Coran hadn't gotten a new crystal!" Pidge added to the verbal 'minutes'.

"Wow. Thanks everybody." Lance turned to look at Keith, a devilish smirk playing at the corner of his mouth. "Sounds like the mice did more than you though."

"I punched Sendak!" He yelled back, rising to the bait.

"Yeah, apparently after I emerged form a coma and shot his arm off."

"Haxus would have killed Pidge if it weren't for me!"

"Pidge would have figured it out, he's pretty scrappy like that!"

"We had a bonding moment. I cradled you in my arms!" Keith could hear his own voice going higher and forced himself to breath and steady his heart rate.

"Nope. Don't remember, didn't happen." Lance shook his head back and forth but Keith didn't miss the slight blush – oh he knew! He remembered! And Keith was going to get that little shit to admit it if it was the last thing he did. Lance abruptly changed the subject. "So, what happened to Sendak?"

"He's frozen in a cryopod. We're keeping him here in the castle." Allura supplied.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Keith had to agree with him, he was against it too. Sendak was far, far too dangerous to be kept alive, especially in a semi-conscious state. Allura was playing fast and loose with all of their safety.

"He's too dangerous to be set free. Besides, we might be able to get some information about Zarkon from him."

"Sooo what's the plan now?"

This time it was Hunk who spoke up, interrupting with a sense of urgency Keith hadn't been expecting. "We have to get back to the Balmera and save Shay and her people."

"Wow! You are really hung up on this lady!" Lance teased.

"No, it's not like that. Look, guys – when you see how Zarkon has treated these people and destroyed their home – they've been under his thumb for so long they don't even know what it is to be free. It's up to us to set this right. This is what being a paladin of Voltron is all about. It's time to man up." He had managed to capture each of their attention with little speech. Though Keith hadn't been to that particular Balmera, he had a sinking feeling it was just as badly damaged as the others he knew about.

A slightly awkward shifting caught his eye and he noticed Pidge fidgeting with their glasses as Shiro spoke up. "Then let's get moving, time to go defend the universe."

"Wait." Pidge commanded weakly. "I have something to say first. I need to come clean and I'm afraid this may change the way you all think about me." Keith didn't miss the way both Pidge and Coran flickered their gaze toward him briefly. "Just so there are no secrets between us anymore, I can't 'man up' – I'm a girl. I mean, I can 'man up' because that's just a figure of speech I don't have to actually be a man to 'man up' I just have to be tough. But what I'm saying -" Pidge rambled but Keith wasn't paying much attention, it wasn't exactly new information to him, instead he was grinning wickedly as he watched Lance have a stroke, shutdown, and reboot. Suddenly shaking himself into awareness as he sputtered an interjection.

"Wha…? You're a girl? How?" His shriek had startled their green paladin who jumped nearly a foot off the ground. No one else seemed surprised in the least.

"I've known for some time, but I'm glad you've shared it with everyone." Ever the diplomat, princess Allura offered kind words and he thought for a fleeting moment that maybe she might be mature enough to handle his reveal – likely not.

"Yeah I figured" Hunk added and Keith also confirmed his own knowledge.

Coran leaned in over Allura's shoulder. "Wait, we were supposed to think you were a boy?" He sounded genuinely confused by the reveal. While he was quirky and eccentric, Keith knew the Altean man was far more astute than he let on.

"Pidge, owning who you are is going to make you a better paladin." Somehow Shiro's words seemed to setting in his gut as if they were meant for him. He knew they weren't, and he wasn't so vain as to think everything was always about him in someway, but their aptness was an eerie coincidence.

Pidge let out a long held breath, their sigh sounding as though it took some heavy weight with it as it left their body. "It's good to get that off my chest. Now, let's launch this Castle-Ship!"

"Wait what!? Pidge is a girl and the castle is a ship? How long have I been out?" Keith chuckled at the poor confused blue paladin and clapped a hand on his back.

"Long enough to be stuck with the only chores left, buddy." Lance quirked a brow at him and, wickedly he elaborated. "Latrine duty." There was a loud groan followed by some snickers from the others as they made their way to the bridge. "Maybe next time don't take a nap during an attack." That one earned him a gasp and a slap to the back of the head, but it had been oh so worth it.

* * *

The castle launched without complication. The three younger humans rushed for the screens of the bridge the moment it was safe to leave their seats. Keith snickered and exchanged a look with Shiro, the older having already experienced the planned take off of a ship before, though nothing quite like this. Yet, it was a completely different experience than that of the Blue Lion's departure from Earth.

Lance tapped the screen and marveled at the cleanliness of the windows, while Pidge was gushing over the glass' ability to block the cold of space. Keith rolled his eyes. "They're screens you morons." Both blushed in embarrassment.

Almost an entire varga went by before they moved away from the screens and the group found themselves clustered between Allura and Coran. "So, when we get there, what do you think? Do we just roll up and start blasting?" Hunk asked nervously, beginning to pace. "Or do we land and have some kind of public address system, like, 'Attention – Galras, this is Voltron. Turn yourselves in' ? … No. Blasting, right?"

"Hunk, calm down. And, no to the blasting. The Balmera is alive, we go in guns blazing and we could damage it even more than the Empire already has." Keith added crossing his arms as he leaned against a console.

"It's our first big rescue mission. He's excited." Shiro offered a reassuring smile to Hunk and Keith rolled his eyes.

"Excited to see his new _girlfriend!"_ Pidge teased causing both Lance and Keith to snicker. Hunk protested vehemently and, though he liked to play the mature adult, Keith saw the corner of Shiro's mouth twitch.

Just then, a loud alarm started blaring, signalling the interception of a distress beacon from a ship that had lost power and was now stranded on a nearby moon. "Who ever it is they will have to wait, Shay has first priority." Hunk announced firmly.

"The Paladin Code states that we must help _all_ those in need." Allura corrected, punctuating her words with a tone laced in finality. Keith had to agree with her, though he didn't get the chance to voice his support. Lance's irritating siren sound was echoing through the bridge and _thank the Ancients_ Shiro put an abrupt stop to that!

They arrived on the desolate moon and Allura ordered Coran to stay behind. The rest of them descended to the surface to meet what turned out to be two individuals and a cyber unit. Their ship was a standard rebel pod that looked to be a part of Te-Osh or Olia's fleets, though neither of them were anywhere near this system. Immediately, Keith was on edge.

Their names were Rolo and Nyma; their cyber unit was Beezer. Instantly both Lance and Pidge were smitten, Hunk on the other hand – not so much. The longer Rolo talked, the more Keith distrusted him. The way he talked about their ship, and his past; it was all too neat, too convenient. Shiro gravitated to the guy, bonding over their shared experience of loosing a limb to the Empire and Keith felt his heart sink. Shiro talked the same way Rolo did, the way Allura did. He didn't see the Empire as a corrupt government; he saw all Galra as inherently evil. Any semblance of a good mood Keith had was officially gone.

It didn't take long before Rolo suddenly took off. He'd received a transmission and suddenly packed up ship. Several dobashes later they were receiving a distress call from Lance. The 4 paladins took off in pursuit of Rolo and Keith's blade communicator intercepted a call between a rogue ship and Commander Prorok's fleet.

Immediate Keith opened the line and listened as Rolo offered Blue in exchange for a reward and pardon. His blood boiled in his veins, these spineless cowards were going to pay for their deception.

The lions caught up to the rogue ship with ease, and it darted into the Zorlar asteroid belt in an attempt to ditch them. Shiro's voice came over the coms as he prepared for action. "Keith, you're the only one who could possibly fly through this. We need you, buddy. Get in there and flush him out."

FINALLY! A chance to show his skills, to _really_ fly! He felt Red purr in the back of his mind and the rush that accompanied flight flooded through him. "You got it. See you on the other side." He cheered back, not even attempting to hide his glee as he raced full speed into the danger zone.

Keith dodged asteroids, ducking and swooping around them with ease. Red was the most responsive and agile ship he'd ever had the pleasure of piloting. He swooned over her speed and grace as he ripped his way closer to the ship. This was the first time in his life a 'she' made his heart race. _Only you, Red_. He purred right back to her.

Rolo was a decent pilot, naturally quick reflexes and resourceful, but he was no match for a Galra, and most other Galra were no match for Keith. He grinned wickedly once again as he took out their blasters and finally one of the thrusters while Rolo tried to make an escape. The damaged ship started falling towards a nearby moon, captured by its gravity, and Keith rushed into action He dug Red's claws into the ship to steady it and the others flew into view, forcing their captives to surrender.

"YEAH!" Keith cheered, an adrenaline laced chuckle escaping. "Hey, Lance, I got your lion back." He teased.

"Thank you Keith. Now can you come and unchain me?"

"What's that? I, uh - You're cutting out. I can't – I can't hear you." He responded in what may have been a slightly flirty tone.

"Oh, come on! I thought we bonded. Keith? Buddy? My man?" Keith snickered into the coms, to high on the rush of his victory to muffle it and Lance continued to stammer but he wasn't listening.

* * *

Keith guided the fighter to the moon, assisting Rolo in a steady landing. "Since your ship _really_ doesn't work now, you'll have to wait here for a rescue."

"Thanks, for sparing our lives."

"Now that these guys are dealt with, let's get to the Balmera and save Shay and her family." Hunk interrupted, pressing his sense of urgency.

"You may not believe this, but I hope you do stop Zarkon. It's a lifetime of fighting the Galra that led me to where I am today." Rolo hung his head as he spoke and Keith watched the others deflate with sympathy but not him, he felt a rage building.

The team parted ways, heading for their lions to fly them back to the castle; Allura using the transport. Keith hesitated, waiting until the others were well out of earshot. He and stared Rolo down, there was no way this quiznaking asshole could be allowed to justify his pathetic existence based solely on 'the Galra made me do it' – that wasn't going to fly. He leaned in close, letting Rolo watch his eyes shift to slit pupils set in yellow sclera. The man gasped when he recognized them and Keith smiled menacingly, his sharp teeth on full display. Turning off his helmet coms, he switched to Galran. "Last I heard Commander Prorok was patrolling near this area. I hope for your sake you didn't try to contact him." He tisked as he watched the other's eyes go wide and Keith straightened back up. "He's not a very forgiving man, and you seem to be down a bargaining chip."

With that, he turned on his heel and walked back to his lion.


	5. Balmera and Bonding

**BALMERA AND BONDING**

Keith stood in the seemingly empty hall, listening to the pained groans coming from inside the walls; Lance's muscles would be cramping soon, if they weren't already. The boy had crawled into a small dumbwaiter to hide from Coran and realized far too late that the door only opened from the outside. Luckily he was still in full paladin armour and had used his coms to call for help. Help, however, had decided to take their sweet ass time to rescue him. Keith smirked as he casually leaned against a wall and listened to the panic.

It took a total of a varga before he finally opened the door. "Whatcha doin' in there buddy? Hiding from someone? Hmm?" he grinned as the other groaned.

"Just let me out mullet."

"Well that's not very nice! Bad Lance, Bad!" Keith promptly shut the door and Lance nearly screamed.

"KEITH! Let me out!"

"Not until you say you're sorry."

"Fine – sorry! Now let me out dammit!"

"Yeah see, I don't believe you mean that."

"Ughh. Ok fine – I'm sorry I yelled at you! Please will you let me know out now?" Keith hummed and hawed audibly for a few tics before mercifully opening the door once again. Lance awkwardly crawled out of the small space, moaning in pleasure as he stretched his legs.

"Why were you in there?"

"Hiding from Coran."

Keith stared blankly back at the Cuban waiting for him to elaborate but got nothing. After several tics, he dramatically rolled his eyes. "Yeah I got that, but _why_ were you hiding from Coran?"

"Uh – he wants me to clean the pod I was in, and all the other ones too." The boy groaned again and performed some rather impressive stretches. Keith really had no idea Lance was that flexible, maybe he should sit in on more of his training sessions, watch him to - _NO_! Bad Keith! Ugh being surrounded by the same people every quintant was really starting to take its toll. It had been so long that even _Lance_ was looking desirable. He shuddered slightly and came back to reality as the boy in question entered into 'downward dog' and Keith suavely turned a choke into a cough.

They were forced to perform something called 'Yoga' back at the Garrison and Keith had been exceptionally good at it, his training with the Blades making him abnormally flexible. Not to mention the fact that Galra have incredible balance and agility. Like everything else with the Garrison, they were separated into two classes. He had been in a class with James, Nadia, Ryan, Trevor, and Hunk while Lance had been in a different class. Meaning, this was the first time Keith had seen the boy expertly going through the poses and he if they were rivals in anything; clearly it was this.

He caught himself staring and, without a word, he walked away. "Hey wait! Where are you going?" Lance called but he ignored it, continuing down the hall. "KEITH! Wait …" The sound of his boots hitting the floor echoed off the walls as Lance chased after him, his paladin armour weighing him down. Keith didn't wait.

* * *

A whole quintant went by as they continued on their way to the balmera, Hunk growing more and more anxious each passing varga. They entirety of their crew was now gathered on the bridge as the beast came into view on the screens. Allura discussed how the Balmera was alive – which he had already said, that they needed to mindful of its wellbeing – which he had already said, and that it would be a difficult mission – which he had already said! Honestly, Keith was starting to feel like no body actually listened to him around here.

"So, what's the plan? We go in there and just – _pow, pow, pow! -_" Lance jerked his arms around like a maniac. Actually, it was more like one of those hilarious tube creatures the vehicle distribution centre back in Texas had displayed in the front of their building to draw people in. Keith loved those things, he could watch them dance and flop around for vargas. "- And free the prisoners?"

He looked over at the Blue paladin with the most exasperated look he could manage; hand on his hip, and disinterested boredom in his tone. "What was that noise?"

"Laser guns!" Lance explained, his voice seductive as he anticipated opening fire.

"No, Lance, I think you mean _Baow, Baow, Baow … POW!"_ Hunk had crouched down to one knee and fired his arms as if they were the guns in questions.

"That sounds like fireworks." Lance dismissed him with a wave of the hand.

"Technically, they're more like _bachoo, bachoo, bachoo!"_ Pidge added as they fired a mock handgun.

Shiro scolded them, "Okay, enough with the bad sound effects." and it Keith snicker until the man immediately dropped his 'grown up' act and joined them in their ridiculousness. "Besides, they're more like _Blam, Blam, Blam!" _

"What?" Keith groaned, arms going wide in disbelief and the others chimed in with their own objections.

"You're crazy" Pidge  
"No, way!" Lance  
"Wrong." Hunk

Keith rubbed his index and middle fingers against his temples as he rolled his eyes and let out a groan. Allura pulled them back to the severity of the situation they were about to tackle and Hunk talked about the Balmera being alive. Keith tuned them both out – they weren't saying anything he didn't already know anyways. Besides, he was the one to tell Hunk it was alive in the first place!

It wasn't until Allura mentioned the soldiers in the tunnels that he came back to their conversation. "How will we know how many are left down in the tunnels?" He asked.

"We can track the Galra, and the Balmerans, using Biothermal Life Indicator Point Technology." _Oh shit._ The other paladins were a different species, one that (aside from Matt and Sam) were the only ones of their kind in space. They would show up as a unique mark against the others, but Keith knew his Galra genes were more dominant that his Human ones, he always registered as Galra on scans.

Without missing a beat Allura moved on, explaining that the sensors needed to be dropped into the shafts to perform their scans. She mentioned the suits having sensors built in and Keith breathed a sigh of relief, it was their paladin armour she would be tracking, not their biology.

The fight had gone way too smoothly, each of them completing their tasks with ease and the lack of resistance made him nervous. Sure, the base had fired on them, but no fighter pods emerged, no targeting systems were engaged, and no _real_ resistance was given. It was as if the Empire was surrendering this Balmera except, the Empire _never_ surrenders. Something deep inside him whispered that it was a trap.

He voiced this concern, alerting the rest of the team to the absurdity of the situation. "Where are all the troops? They're not coming to the surface."

"Yeah, I remember seeing a lot of Galra guys down in the mines." It was Hunk that backed him up.

"We've located a hangar full of Galra righters just below the surface. Someone has to take those out before they can launch." Keith was about to object to the Princess' command but Shiro jumped in, sending him and Lance down into the tunnels to close off the hangar. This was a terrible idea. A terrible, terrible idea. Keith's gut was screaming at him as Lance took off in the direction of the mines and, reluctantly, he followed his teammate.

Inside the mines meant leaving the safety of their lions. He led the way to the hangar as Lance followed, their speeders just small enough to manoeuvre the larger tunnels. Once inside the hangar, they crouched behind a relatively large boulder to take stock of their surroundings and discuss the plan of attack. His gut screamed louder as he looked around.

"The entire hangar's only being guarded by a few sentries." This was definitely a trap, but with no soldiers present it would be easy to take out the sentries and tamper with the intake valves on the pods. "Let's go!" He commanded as he drew his bayard. The faster they completed their task, the faster they could get off this quiznaking Balmera.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Cool your jets, Keith!" Lance grabbed his collar and pulled him back, causing him to fall on his ass against a rock. He scowled at the Blue paladin. "Don't you remember that stuff about this Balmera thing being a sensitive animal?"

"Oh, right." Tampering with the intake valve would stop the pods effectively but it would also cause them to explode, further injuring the already dying Balmera. And it _was_ dying. Keith could feel its quintessence draining.

"Yeah, so we can't just blow things up like a _psycho_."

"You got a better idea?"

"I do. We sneak into the control room to shut down the bay doors. That'll trap the ships in."

"That - " he began to object before it really sank in _huh_, Lance wasn't just a pretty face after all. " - actually is a better idea."

Sneaking across the beams wasn't overly difficult and they made it to the control room in a few dobashes. Lance whispered rather loudly that he knew where to go but honestly, Keith was done with this mission. His stomach was turning and he just wanted off this stupid Balmera and as far away from what he was 1000% sure was a trap.

"No, no. It's over here." Lance continued, apparently heart set on giving away their element of surprise.

"I know what I'm doing." He whispered back, pulling his bayard again and cutting a hole through the roof of the control room, directly overtop of where he knew the console would be. Lance took the opportunity to jump on the weakened panel and dropped down on top of a sentry, ordering him to keep an eye out for the guards.

For some reason, despite the fact that he had a sword and Lance had the gun, Keith followed the Blue paladin's orders and went to stand by the window. He listened to the confused grumbling behind him, followed by the worrisome beeping, as Lance haphazardly began tapping buttons on the screen.

"I don't know what I'm doing here, it's all Galra gibberish." Lance admitted and Keith rolled his eyes.

"Every language is gibberish if you don't understand it." He condescendingly replied and moved to squat beside him. "Let me see." Keith read over the controls, the buttons Lance had pressed didn't do a thing, his lack of Galra DNA rendering his touch useless on the screen; but not Keith's. He double checked the settings and placed his hand on the print, authorizing the command for the door to close. Immediately it responded to his touch and the hangar began to seal.

"Whoa! How'd you do that?" Lance asked and Keith had a mild panic attack, spitting out the first explanation that came to his head.

"I, just put my hand on the handprint." Admittedly it wasn't a particularly creative excuse, but he shrugged it off and Lance seemed to accept it.

They had just made it out of the hangar and back to the speeder when Shiro commanded them to the core of the Balmera to retrieve Shay, admitting that he too was now believing the whole thing to be a trap. Seriously, why were they insisting on going after this Shay person? They should be leaving with the Balmerans they had and cutting their losses. That's how the Blades worked, that's how you survived!

The Balmera was starting to collapse around them, chunks of 'rock' falling from the tunnel's roof as they went deeper. They ran around corner after corner until finally coming across some resistance. _They must be close_. He thought as blasts rang out around them, punctuated by a loud moaning sound. The Balmera was in pain.

"Their shooting is destroying the Balmera. We gotta do something." He called out across the tunnel to Lance who was crouching on the other side. The blasts continued firing between them, effectively pinning them down.

"Well, we can't shoot back. It'll just make it worse." Lance looked around and started making a series of weird grunting sounds accompanied by strange hand gestures. Keith stared at him.

He shrugged his shoulders to express his obvious confusion and looked around to see if he could gauge what Lance was failing to communicate. Above the sentries was a series of braces holding the tunnels together, and a ladder lay conveniently behind him. He turned to Lance; ignoring whatever ridiculous plan the boy had come up with, and pointed to the ladder. He would just use that instead.

Keith had barely made it to the top of the brace when Lance burst out into the line of fire, flailing his arms and taunting the sentries. _Sentries!_ They were robots, not soldiers; they couldn't be goaded into a fight, but that didn't stop Lance from trying. Keith face palmed as the sentries took aim on the only available target. He pulled his bayard and jumped, his extensive training kicking into high gear. In the blink of an eye he had taken out his opponents.

They didn't meet any more resistance after that, running into the core of the Balmera in just over a few dobashes. Immediately, the doors sealed behind him. Shay confirmed that is was in fact a trap and Keith's gut yelled 'I told you so' at him. Hunk accused Rolo of ratting them out and – Yeah that was likely. Prorok would have picked them up by now and the location of where the Paladins were headed would have been the only bargaining chip he had left. Keith kinda regretted not just letting their ship crash. Red scolded him and he rolled his eyes, drawing a confused look from Lance.

It hadn't taken that much longer for help to arrive and they rushed to their lions as the Empire forces tried to capture them – again! He could hear Coran and Allura's commentary over the helmet coms and the battle began. They were hopelessly outnumbered, but the Empire was hopelessly outmatched. Keith smirked as he blasted a group of pods with his newly unlocked firepower, and watched Lance encase others in ice. They took out the majority of the opponents before turning their attention to the cruiser attempting to destroy the castle. Shiro ordered them to form Voltron and Keith thought it was over kill. They could take out a single cruiser easily without wasting precious tics merging but hey, forming the giant robot was exhilarating so who was he to complain.

Voltron pushed the ion cannon away from the castle and Allura blasted the cruiser in a magnificently terrifying display of firepower. The castle packed a way bigger punch than he'd first thought. Keith looked out at the carnage and felt a pang of regret. He hadn't notified Kolivan about this mission because he knew there weren't any Blades station here, but that cruiser wasn't supposed to be here either. What if there were Blades on board? He couldn't put this off any longer; Keith knew he needed to tell the princess about the Blade of Marmora so that their members didn't die by Voltron's hand.

* * *

Keith lay back on his bed, unable to fall asleep. The whole quintant had been one disaster after another. They had knowingly rushed into a trap, the ensuing Robeast had been too powerful for them to defeat, and they'd all stared their own death in the eyes before the Balmera saved them. He shuddered under the thin blanket.

As a Blade, Keith had made peace with the knowledge that he would most likely die in battle, die with the honour of a soldier. But when actually faced with the very real possibility of death, he had been terrified. He fought alongside his fellow paladins with everything he had, letting the full extent of his Galran blood lust seep through their connection to strengthen the other's wills to fight, but it hadn't been enough. They hadn't been enough. Voltron was supposed to be the most powerful weapon in the universe but Emperor Zarkon had sent a creature that had all but defeated them.

Was the Empire really that strong or were they just not as good as the original paladins? He felt a low rumble in the back of his mind as Red disagreed vehemently with his train of thought. _They weren't weak_, she'd said, _just inexperienced._

He fell asleep to that less than comforting thought.

* * *

_"And what of the Balmera?"_

"The Altean Princess restored it. She used her Alchemy to heal the beast." Keith watched Kolivan's stoic guise, waiting for any signs of emotion, a hit of what the Blade leader was thinking behind his carefully constructed emotionless mask.

_"That is promising news. Perhaps the damage caused by the Empire can be healed after all."_ There was a long moment of silence, Keith had not yet been dismissed and didn't dare disconnect the line until Kolivan gave the order. Besides, there was something else he needed to discuss. "_You have done well Blade. That is all."  
_

"Wait, leader. There's one more thing." Kolivan gave a curt nod of approval, silently instructing him to proceed. "The princess knows there are rebels out there fighting against the Empire, but I feel it would be beneficial if she were informed about the Blade of Marmora's existence."

_"No."_

"But sir, I think we could work together to -"

_"No! That is enough."_ Kolivan cut him off. _"You have you're assignment, we will not jeopardize the safety of our organization by working in the open. We have survived this long by keeping to the shadows and that is where we will remain."_

Keith gave a curt nod and the line was cut. He sat in his room, alone in the dark, as he stared at the now blank screen of his communicator. He understood, he really did, but something told him that working together was the only way. He wouldn't be the one to go ahead and reveal the Blades if Kolivan forbid it, he wasn't a traitor, but he certainly didn't like having to maintain this lie.

He had talked to Coran, the older man pulling him aside to ask when Keith would tell the others about him being Galra. He had explained that he couldn't tell them without revealing the existence of the rebel organization was a part of, and that he would need to run it by his leader first. Coran had surprisingly agreed with him, and a part of Keith was looking forward to everything being out in the open. But that looked like it wasn't going to happen for a while. Kolivan had rejected his proposal and he couldn't exactly tell the Princess he was a Galra rebel fighter then immediately proceed to say he wasn't allowed to tell her anything. That wouldn't fly.

He groaned and fell backwards on his bed.

* * *

"Start training level: 18" He commanded the room and removed his jacket, tossing it off to the side, activating his bayard as the Gladiator dropped from the ceiling. They fought through the level multiple times, Keith ordering the bot to reset each time until he completed the level without receiving a single blow. Approximately a varga had gone by already and he was building up a nice layer of sweat on his skin. When the doors opened, he welcomed the interruption. Back with the Blades he'd always had a penchant for letting his training become all encompassing, spending far more time on the training decks than any of the other operatives, clearly those habits were more ingrained in him than he'd thought.

"Hey, man. We've been looking for you all over the place! How long have you been in here?" Hunk walked in behind Lance as the Cuban boy spoke. Keith merely shrugged, it felt like a varga but who actually knew how much time had really passed. "K cool, well – move night so get your half-alien butt down to the lounge!"

"Half-alien?" He smirked as he rolled his eyes, Lance nodded along. "You do realize that his is an Altean ship right?" No response. "That makes _all _of us aliens except Allura and Coran." The two boys' eyes shot wide as the though sunk in and Keith snickered. "What movie? They aren't gunna make us all sit through some god awful Altean cinema are they?" He cringed at the thought. Some bits of Altea had survived their destruction; unfortunately for the universe (and Keith) one of those things was a collection of various films. They were all in Altean, but with the castle's translators the other paladins wouldn't have a problem understanding.

The real problem was that they were terrible. Absolute garbage. Total crap.

"Nah, man. We're gunna introduce them to some Earth movies Pidgey had on their laptop." Keith snorted at the pet name; the little gremlin was definitively going to hate it.

He nodded back to Lance. "Fine. I was done here any way." Keith picked up his jacket and deactivated his bayard. "End training sequence." He commanded and, for a brief moment, the light in the centre of the bot's head blinked red before the command was obeyed and the Gladiator jumped up through an opening in the ceiling. _Weird_. He thought to himself, but Lance was already jabbering on again and he didn't have a chance to think more about the occurrence. Instead, Keith double-checked that he had his belongings and headed for the showers, leaving the chatty Humans behind.

The hot water felt incredible against his sore muscles. Easing the tension and tightness from training, and washing away the sweat. He towel dried his hair and wrapped a second towel around his waist before pulling his clothing from the spinner.

The castle had a round bin just inside each of the shower stalls for washing your clothing. It was the same concept as the ones they had on base; dirty clothes went in, sterilization happened, clean clothes came out. It was tech they had stolen from the Empire and it was soooo convenient. Some things still needed to be washed, but it worked in a pinch. He had put his favourite outfit into the bid before the shower and was now able to put on freshly laundered clothes. He felt good, fresh and clean and relaxed. Training had a way of calming him like nothing else could. The others didn't understand that, but the others weren't Galra.

Keith headed to the lounge and flopped down on the couch next to Pidge. The large, round, white room had what appeared to be a bed sheet taped haphazardly to one of the walls and Lance was still sitting on Hunk's shoulders as he finished securing the final corner. Keith grinned but turned his attention to the Green paladin sitting next to him.

"What movie are we watching?"

"We're gunna take a vote when the princess gets here." They replied, not bothering to look up from their laptop. Keith flopped back over and stared up at the ceiling, he could hear Coran and Shiro talking about the paladin's training schedules, Hunk and Lance arguing about what the movie snacks should be, and Pidge typing away. The two boy's conversation migrated to the topic of 'best alien depiction in Earth cinema' and the award went to … none of them in Keith's opinion. They were all either ridiculous or horribly racist and he _hated_ the few Earth movies he watched that were about aliens. With one exception: Killer Klowns From Outer Space. That movie was so bad it was great. He hadn't laughed so hard in a really, really long time.

A dobash or so later, the door to the lounge hissed open and the Princess, followed by her 5 little mice, entered the room. The mice took one look at him and scampered into Allura's hair. She shot him a pointed look and he rolled his eyes, letting his head fall back to the couch.

It didn't take long for everyone to get situated and Pidge began rattling off the movie options. They each got to pick one choice and the group would decide based on those selections.

Allura: LaLa Land (because it looked like a classic Altean film)  
Coran: The Lego Movie (because of the bright colours)  
Hunk: Starwars (because "it's perfect you guys")  
Lance: Men In Black (because "aww come on! Will smith kicking alien ass!")  
Shiro: Planet Earth BBC documentary (because "learning is fun you guys.")  
Pidge: Aliens (because the little sociopath wanted to scare the pants off the Alteans)  
Keith: Guardians Of The Galaxy (because hey isn't that what they were in a way?)

Lance made a few comments about why Pidge even had a romcom musical and a BBC documentary in their downloads, and the group argued back and fourth (mostly it was the 4 humans arguing) about what movie was the best choice. In the end they all learned a valuable lesson – this was not a democracy. Pidge pulled the 'my laptop, my rules' card and the entire group soon found themselves strapped in for a horror movie about aliens attacking on a spaceship – while they were currently on an alien spaceship. It was enough to make Allura, Hunk, and Lance incredibly nervous and jumpy, though the latter would never admit it.

When the movie was over they were all too worked up to go bed, so Shiro suggested another movie – which Pidge promptly selected on the teams behalf. This time they watched 'Twister' and it did nothing to calm them down. However, it did open up discussions about Earth vs Altea.

Allura and Coran reminisced fondly over their home planet, while the other paladins recounted things about Earth. Keith sat quietly on the couch, listening to their stories and smiling at a few.

"I miss rain, and splashing in puddles." Lance added after a moment of silence.

"Rain?" Coran asked, confused. He looked to Allura who shrugged and Lance launched into an explanation.

"Yeah, it's water that falls from the sky."

"Oh, we had that on Altea. Only, it wasn't water, more like rocks, Razor-sharp and boiling-hot. Oh, they could knock a hole right in your head." He had a love-struck look on his face as he remembered and the princess smiled at him, nodding along to his story. If it weren't for her agreeing, Keith would have thought the eccentric man had made it all up, or heavily exaggerated at the very least. Altea sounded horrible.

"Sounds fun." Lance sarcastically replied.

"Aww man, I miss the rain! I used to love sitting at the window and watching it fall." Hunk chimed in. "And the fresh smell in the air after it cleared; magical!"

Pidge nodded with him and rocked in their crossed legged position. "Me too, I used to open my windows on a stormy night so I could fall asleep to the sound of the rain and thunder."

"Yeah, Adam and I used to curl up with a mug of hot chocolate and watch the storms together. I really miss that." Shiro had a little glimmer in his eye, a ghost of a tear that Keith knew he wouldn't let fall.

"What about you, Mullet. What's your rain memory?" All eyes turned to look at Keith as Lance spoke and he felt himself wither under their scrutiny.

"I uh – I've never experienced rain."

"WHAT?" Lance shrieked at his confession.  
"Are you serious?" Hunk added.  
"Come again?" Pidge this time.  
"Keith, how is that possible?" Shiro asked.  
"Never? How unfortunate." Allura contributed.  
"My, my dear boy!" Coran finished.

"Look I – I didn't grown up on a planet like all of you guys did. I grew up on a highly secure base and – never mind ok, just forget I said anything." He got up and moved to storm out of the room; sometimes he couldn't help but think about all the things he missed out on from having not grownup on Earth like the others; or any planet for that matter.

"Hey, woah, hold your horses their! We didn't mean for you to take off." Lance jumped to his feet and grabbed Keith's arm, pulling just a little too hard and the black haired boy lost his balance, falling directly onto Hunk's lap.

He murmured a sorry and he tried to escape but it was too late, those strong arms were already wrapping themselves around him. "OH KEITH! I keep forgetting you're not fully Human and you're like, a literal alien!" He added and the young Galra breathed what could very well be his last breath.

"Question Paladins! Is it important for Humans, even half Humans, to breathe?" Coran thankfully interjected and Hunk's tight grip eased enough that Keith was able to take in a gasping breath.

"Oh man, sorry Keith! You ok buddy?"

"S'fine Hunk." He croaked, his voice coming out raspier than normal.

"So wait, you've never experienced rain?" Pidge asked and he shook his head. "Like, ever?"

"It doesn't rain on a space station Pidge, everything is climate controlled and I'd never been on a planet before coming to Earth. Well, that's not true. I'd been to Oklarion a few times, but never more than a quintant. Experiencing a natural day / night cycle was really weird, and natural gravity was hard to adjust to."

"What? Natural gravity?" Lance asked with a dumbfounded expression, his large mouth hanging open. "What about the wind, or the warm sun, or like – the ocean, or a beach, or a forest, or -"

"Lance, I think it's safe to say it was all very new to him. Right Keith?" He nodded to Shiro's assumptions and felt himself blush. All of them, all 6 of the castle's other occupants, were staring in his direction now and it made him incredibly uncomfortable.

"But he lived on Earth for like, 2 years!"

"Yeah, but like, in Texas – in a desert." Hunk countered. "I know the Chihuahuan Desert gets more rain than, like, the Sahara but it's still a desert, right?" Lance shrugged and tried to argue more but Hunk thankfully continued. "Oh man, what about thunderstorms? Did you ever experience one?"

Keith shook his head. "No. The first one I ever experienced was when I was really little, like maybe 3 I think. I don't remember much, just that I was terrified. I remember my dad sitting with us and explain what was happening but I don't remember anything else. Then when I came back to Earth, it wasn't until I was already at the Garrison by the time the first storm hit." He felt a blush creep up his cheeks. This was about to get really embarrassing, he could tell.

Once again, Lance looked like he was about to comment, pry for more details, but Pidge intervened. They had exchanged a look with Keith and gave him a reassuring nod, jumping in to save him from a dangerous line of questions they both knew he didn't want to answer. "When I was little I used to go to my brother Matt's room at night to hide from the thunder and lightning. It wasn't until a few years ago that I actually started to enjoy it."

"Yeah, yeah, same here! Growing up in Samoa I got pretty used to the rain, but coming to Garrison was different. It was scarier being in a different country, with none of my family around, all alone. Oh man, Keith, buddy! You must have been so scared!" Keith rolled his eyes.

"I wasn't scared. The Garrison had protocol in place in the event of a tornado and I made sure to study the student handbook. It was fine just, different."

"So you have never experienced a sandy beach then either?" Lance finally managed to get a word in.

"Well no, not exactly. But I felt the sand at my dad's cabin."

"OHHHH NO! Not the same sand! Ok Mullet, when we get back to Earth you are coming to Cuba and I am making you sit on the beach. You're pale complexion could use some colour and vitamin D." Keith rolled his eyes and suddenly froze as the realization hit him; they all thought he was going back to Earth with them after the war. Was he?

"Back – to Earth?" He asked, his voice quiet and weak. The obvious answer was no. No, he wouldn't go back to Earth, at least not permanently. He didn't belong there; he was Galra first and foremost, and he belonged amongst his own people. But he _did_ promise his dad he would be back. Maybe he could return with the others, visit his dad a bit, make fun of the Garrison senior command for not knowing they had an alien at their school, and then head back to the Blades. That could work!

His thoughts must have been flying across his face, before he knew it there was a soft hand resting on his shoulder and the princess was looking at him with kind eyes. "I understand; Coran and I no longer have a home to return to after we defeat Zarkon either."

He smiled at her, but the sentiment didn't reach his eyes. Scanning around the room he took in all of their faces and let out a breath. "No offense, but I do have a home to go back to – it's just not Earth." The room was quiet for a moment and he let it resonate before continuing. "I'll return with you all, to see my dad, but then I'm going _home_."

"So wait, after this war we may never see you again?" Hunk asked, genuine sadness in his voice.

"Well, not _never._ I'll come visit Earth, but it's not my home. I don't want to talk about this. We aren't anywhere close to winning this war, and I don't want to think about it yet."

"Well the Princess is always welcome on Earth." Lance quickly added, turning a flirty grin in Allura's direction. "You can come back to Cuba and I'll show you my hometown. Varadero beach is amazing, you'll love it! Clean white sand, bright turquoise water, and the hot sun with a soft warm breeze! Oh man, it's the best." Lance was practically gushing as he described his home. And Keith had to admit, it did sound lovely. "Oh, and my mamá makes the _best_ tamales."

"What is a 'tamales'? Is it … food?" Allura asked hesitantly and Keith shrugged; he had absolutely no idea what a lot of what Lance described were.

Their conversation carried on in much the same way, the 4 Humans and 2 Alteans continuing to reminisce about their home planets while Keith listened in. Occasionally a question would be directed at him and he'd answer if he could. Coran and Pidge ran interference, abruptly changing topics or asking a different question when the subject of his home or other parentage came up.

"As much as I am enjoying these memories and learning about this 'Earth' you paladins come from, I'm afraid I must 'plug the pulley' as you Humans say." Coran exclaimed. He stood, brushed off his clothes, and offered an extended hand to Allura. "Come princess, you really must get some rest. You are still drained from the rejuvenation ceremony on the Balmera."

"Yes, I suppose that would be wise." She replied with a smile, struggling to her feet as she clasped his hand. "Good night paladins." A small wave of the hand and a gentle smile was offered their way as the two Alteans left the room.

"It's 'pull the plug' right?" Keith asked. _Stars_ if he'd been saying wrong this whole time he'd be so embarrassed.

Lance burst out in raucous laughter. "Yeah, Mullet. Oh my god you're hilarious." He teased and Keith rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest, and letting out a huff of annoyance.

"Well cadets, I think Coran is right; time to hit the hay." Shiro smiled at them all and, with an old man groan, rose to his feet. He scooped up a nearly sleeping Pidge in the process.

"Sure thing _DAD_." Lance teased and the Black paladin smacked him on the back of the head causing Keith to snort. A spiteful glare was cast in his direction and he merely shrugged, not remorseful in the least. They walked back to their rooms in relative silence, save for Lance whisper-yelling to Hunk about his family.

"G'Night guys." Hunk waved and disappeared into his room with a warm smile. Keith waved back and offered the boy a soft nod.

Lance's mouth opened up to reveal the caverns of Drogli swallowing his face as he yawned. "Night Hunk, night Shiro, night Pidgey -" An angry grumbling sound responded from the small green and blonde bundle in Shiro's arms. "- night Mullet."

"Night Lance."

"Keith? Can I talk to you?" Shiro asked as he came out of the Green paladin's room.

"Uh, yeah, sure."

The man ushered them into his quarters, shutting the door behind him, and gesturing for Keith to take a seat. "I know it must be hard for you, when we talk about Earth."

"It doesn't bother me."

"Are you sure? Cause you kinda shut down for a while there."

"Yeah, that – that had nothing to do with you guys." They sat in silence for far too long, both becoming uncomfortable as it progressed.

"Listen, if you ever need someone to talk to you can come to me. I know I may not be able to help with everything but you can always come to me for a shoulder or a listening ear. Just so you know – I'm here for you Keith, I always will be." A strong hand crossed the distance and squeezed his shoulder with affection. "Your dad's home isn't the only place you can go back to on Earth. I know you and Adam never really got along, but you're important to me and you're always welcome at the Shirogane-Warren home!" The man had a thousand watt smile plastered on his face and Keith couldn't help but snicker.

"Thanks, that means a lot Shiro." He smiled back.


	6. Haunted Castle

**HAUNTED CASTLE**

The hangar was dead silent save for the steady clicking of Pidge's keyboard and the rhythmic percussion of Keith's feet. He sat on the edge of the Green Lion's paw and kicked his feet as they dangled below him, a deep clanging sound resonating in the hangar each time they made contact.

"Will. You. Knock. It. OFF!" Pidge seethed through tightly clenched teeth. "Some of us are trying to focus!"

"Oh, sorry."

"What are you doing here anyways?"

"Bored." He answered with a groan and let himself fall backwards against the lion's leg.

"Don't you have a project for Ms. Possum you can do or something?" the little gremlin waved their arm dismissively at him.

"Ms. Proxa." He snickered "and ya, but I don't feel like doing it. That's why I'm helping you."

"Oh, is that what you call this? '_Helping'_ must have a very different meaning in Galran." They chastised and he couldn't help but laugh.

"Touché, Gremlin."

"Don't call me that." The swivel chair abruptly spun around, allowing the two paladins to face one another. "I'm still a ways away from being able to access the programming of this Galra Crystal. But I wont need your help till I'm in. Until then, get out of my lab." Keith rolled his eyes and let out a groan, sitting up straighter on Green's paw.

"You know, as the arms of Voltron, we really should be spending more time together hanging out, bonding, and what not." He teased.

"Right you are, Number 4!" Coran's sudden appearance had both of them jumping and Keith let out a rather undignified hiss, the hairs on the back of his neck bristling in alarm. He mentally kicked himself for letting his guard down and not continually monitoring his surroundings like he was trained to do. "It seems our legs are quite the team already, you have a lot of work to do to catch up!" Pidge huffed and spun back around to finish working on the crystal and as much he hated to admit it, the challenge was something he had a hard time letting slide.

Pidge hunched back over their keyboard, not bother to look at either of them as they spoke. "I think we're close enough. Besides, we each know secrets about the other that no one else knows." He gave the Green paladin a quizzical look at their comment, and with a groan, the other took pity on him and elaborated. "Me know you Galra. You know me Holt. Secrets."

Keith rolled his eyes again. "Gee, thanks Tarzan. That clears it right up."

Pidge shrugged. "Just get out of my lab already, _Number 4._" He winced at the smirk on their face. They knew his height was a sore spot, Galra were taller than Humans and he was short for his age even by Human standards. But he wasn't the only one touchy about their size.

"Sure thing, _Number 5._" The Green paladin scowled back at him in response and he grinned wickedly, lithely jumping down from the lion's paw to land gracefully on the hangar floor.

"I knew these names would catch on!" Coran exclaimed with glee. "Come along then Number 4, I could use some help activating that Galra Commander's pod."

"OH, I wanna come too!" Pidge shouted as they lunged from their desk and bounded after them.

* * *

On the way they had picked up Lance and Hunk from the kitchens, and eventually Shiro who had been meditating in the lounge. Everyone was now gathered outside Sendak's pod, with the exception of Allura; the Altean princess, having been deemed too weak from healing the Balmera, still required significantly more rest to replenish her energy levels.

Coran set to work immediately, connecting three round electronics to the pod and pulling up a command screen on the accompanying tank. "Ok, guys, Sendak's almost all hooked up. But look, I have to warn you; this technology was used to keep Altean memories alive, not to interrogate prisoners." Keith could tell the man was uncomfortable with the process, but it was the princess' orders and he followed them diligently.

"Coran, we understand this isn't what the technology was meant for, but if we can extract Sendak's memories we may gain valuable intelligence on Zarkon's troop locations." Shiro countered, remaining calm and composed as ever.

Lance, on the other hand, immediately chimed in backing up Shiro in his usual exuberant style. "Yeah, and then we can just be like, 'Knock-knock' '_who's there?_' 'The avenging fury of Voltron, son'!" Keith rolled his eyes, not even bothering to acknowledge him. With arms crossed over his chest, and his weight resting on his hip, the Red paladin was the picture of indifference.

"I, for one, am against this. Forcing your way into someone's mind against their will is just plain wrong." He caught the slight tensing of Shiro's shoulders, but there was no way Keith was backing down from his belief. Coran shot a sympathetic eye his way, clearly in agreement, but continued his assignment regardless. Keith huffed in annoyance. He understood why Shiro would advocate for this, but what he couldn't understand was how the Princess had so easily agreed. She of all people should understand the danger they were playing with. It seemed so reckless to him.

They stood for a few more dobashes, Pidge eagerly drilling Coran for information as to the mechanics of the memory extraction process, while the system was activated. Allura had already completed most configurations the other quintant, so all Coran needed to do was boot it up. It took a while, like several vargas, before Keith finally gave up waiting.

They had started out standing in a group watching the pod, but by now they had all migrated into their default poses. Coran was tapping away at the tank's controls checking and double checking their settings, Pidge was standing in the middle of room tapping a foot in obvious boredom, both Lance and Hunk had taken to sitting on the floor, and Keith was leaning against an empty pod with his foot hitched and arms crossed. Only Shiro remained unmoved. The Black paladin stood resolute in front of the pod, arms crossed and back straight, as he stared down the Empire Commander with an unwavering intensity.

Keith yawned and stretched his arms, kicking off from the empty pod, and addressing no one in particular as he spoke. "Well, I can't wait around anymore. I'm going to hit the training deck." He walked out of the strangely dim room and made his way to his promised location.

* * *

Taking off his jacket and tossing it to the side, Keith began a series of stretches and pre training workouts. A little light jogging around the circumference of the room, some 'jumping jackets' as the humans called them, and a custom mix of Blade and Garrison stretch poses. After sufficiently warming up Keith activated his bayard, ready to begin. "Resume last training sequence." He commanded.

{ Identify }

The honey sweet voice of Altean tech echoed through the empty room. "Keith Kogane" He responded quickly, waiting for the AI to recognize him and begin.

{ Welcome: Red Paladin }  
{ Resuming: Training Level 18 }

He barely had time enter into his stance when the gladiator dropped from the ceiling with its sword drawn. He managed to be beat the droid within 15 dobashes, but it wasn't perfect; he'd received a blow to his left shoulder that he should have been able to block. Keith reset the level and tried again, this time managing to avoid all strikes, and thus deeming the round successful. "Start training level: 19" He commanded and the droid beeped twice before lunging into a new series of attacks.

He was now on his ninth attempt of training level 19, a total of 3 vargas spent without stopping, and he was exhausted. His score was steadily increasing but it still wasn't perfect, and he refused to move on until he could beat the level blindfolded. The droid lunged for his head and Keith ducked, swiping around behind it to catching the incoming blade at the last possible moment. The incredible force of the blow sent him tumbling across the training deck floor and he jumped to his feet only to be met with another swift blow. Huffing out a heavy breath, Keith decided to call it quits.

"End training sequence." The droid advanced. "End training sequence!" It drew its sword, the light in the centre the droid's head turning bright red. "END TRAINING SEQUENCE, NOW!" He hollered as the sword came crashing down. Instinct and training kicked in, his own sword rose to block the attack but his reactionary grip wasn't secure and the bayard flew from his hand, landing across the deck floor. A kick, far too fast and powerful for level 19, sent him tumbling once again.

Grunting, Keith jumped up and charged for the bayard, ducking smoothly under another attack, and sliding between the droid's legs. In one fluid motion he grabbed the bayard, rose to his feet, and took off in a sprint for the exit; sealing the door behind him. Finally safe, he rested his back against the panel and panted as he tried to regain his breath. Something was wrong, something was _very_ wrong. His gut screamed at him and not a second later the blade of the gladiator pierced the door gap. The eerie red blinking light in the centre its head making him incredibly uncomfortable.

The droid pried the doors apart and, with little effort, walked right out of the training deck its programming was bound to. Everything in him was screaming that this was wrong; the gladiator was programed to never leave the training deck, no matter what. The moment it came to the doors it should have powered down, but not this time. This time it was chasing – nay, attacking him through the halls of the castle.

Keith ran with little regard for where he was headed, focusing his attention on the still advancing training droid while attempting to maintain his footing, and watching his periphery. It was too difficult, he could feel the hold on his more Human features slipping and after a particularly close call, he decided to let go. The moment his eyes changed back, the hall brightened considerably, nearly blinding him until they properly adjusted. The colours were more muted and the difference in his depth perception, coupled with the fact that he was still running at full speed, made him queasy but it was worth it. The boost to his periphery and the ability to better track motion made it easier to see the droid's strikes coming.

He turned down hall after hall, skidding around corners and ducking to avoid attacks, all while desperately trying to think of a more permanent solution. He couldn't just run forever after all.

_"HELP! HELP! HEEEEEEELP!"_

{ 11 … 10 … 9 … }

There was muffled shouting, robotic counting, and constant banging coming from the hall ahead on his right. Ducking under another swift blow, Keith spun around to block the return of the gladiator's sword. He ran backwards as he attacked back, years of training and a natural grace allowing him to do so with out stumbling. A solid kick sent him flying against the airlock door with a hard thud that he felt in his chest as the wind was knocked out of him.

_"KEITH!"_ The muffled screams sounded through the door and the robotic voice continued to count down. He turned his head to lock eyes with a terrified Lance; panic displayed prominently on his face while tanned fists continued to bang against the door.

"What are you doing in there?" He yelled back. Lance opened his mouth to reply but immediately pointed out the approaching sword. Keith ducked to avoid the blow and stuck out with his own weapon, stepping away from the airlock to dodge another too-strong kick.

_"I need help! Because if you don't get me out of here right now I'm going to be sucked out into space!"_

{ Doors Opening }

_"I'M GETTING SUCKED OUT INTO SPACE!"_ Lance panicked, rushing for a ledge to grab hold of. The airlock immediately opened and Keith could hear the rush against the internal door as the room's pressure began to drop, soon it would become a vacuum. Lance continued to scream, Keith couldn't hear his voice but he could very clearly see the boy's expression. Using his bayard to block another blow, he managed to rush the droid and, utilizing his momentum, pin it against the airlock door. He used the tip of his red and white sword to hit the button, and immediately dove out of the way as the pressure difference pulled the droid out into the void of space.

He waited a tic until the corrupted gladiator was outside the castle before rising up. Leaving his hips and legs pressed tightly against the frame, Keith leaned inside the open door and reached out his hand for Lance.

"Keith! Keith, come on!" The Cuban urged as he was hauled back inside the safety of the Castle of Lions. The moment the other's body was fully inside Keith hit the lock button, sealing the airlock and ensuring they were no longer at risk of being sucked out into space. His exhaustion caught up with him all at once and the young Galra collapsed against the wall, gasping for breath. If it weren't for his Human genes he never would have had the stamina to continue that fight.

"What were you doing out there?" He asked, rounding on Lance the moment he had enough air in his lungs to do so.

"Who was that guy?" Lance yelled back, turning to face him.

"He was trying to kill me!"

"Well is he the Castle? Because that's who's trying to kill me!" It was as if they shared a light bulb, realization setting in at the same time. Both boy gasped and rushed to their feet, running down the hall towards … nothing!

"Lance … where … are we … going?" He panted as he ran, the earlier exhaustion coming back in full force. A few tics worth of rest was not nearly enough after what had now amounted to almost 4 vargas of non-stop combat.

"Medbay!" The substantially less winded Lance yelled over his shoulder. "Keep up, Mullet." Keith groaned but took the bait as usual, pushing himself past his own limits. He was one hundred per cent going to collapse when they reached their destination.

"Ahh, Number 3, there you are! I was just about finished here. 'Bout to move on to the teleduv next, come along, I could use the extra set of hands."

"CORAN! No time for that! The Castle has gone kooky, haywire, bat-shit bananas! I told you it was haunted!" Lance practically screamed across the room. The door closed behind him and Keith dropped - straight to the floor, not an ounce of energy left in his body. He lay there with his arms outstretched as he heaved lung full after lung full, his aching muscles screaming at him almost as loudly as Lance currently was. Keith had him tuned out, his eyes screwed tightly shut to block the too-bright lights and the rapid pounding of his own pulse was the only thing he could hear. "Keith? Are you even listening to me?"

"No." He deadpanned, not bothering to move even so much as a muscle. An exasperated Blue paladin groaned and kicked him in the shoulder. "OW! What the hell, Lance!" He shot back, eyes flying open as he barred his teeth in anger.

"Ok, so you have the fangs to match the freaky ass eyes. Coran! Keith's been poisoned by the Castle's ghost!" Lance hollered before gasping. "OR, Keith's been _possessed _by the ghost!" He slapped his clammy hands on either side of Keith's face, leaning in real close and pointedly spitting out "Sal de él, malvado fantasma alienígena" with enough venom to make Keith squirm.

Feeling the pressure in his chest from the knee currently pressed there, an incredibly flustered Red paladin turned to Coran for help. The Altean merely shrugged his shoulders and shook his head – eliciting a groan from the pinned down boy. Keith let out a breath and shifted his eyes back to rounded purple set in white and Lance breathed a sigh of relief.

"Woah, man I didn't think that would work! Holy shit I just performed, like, an exorcism or something!" Keith rolled his eyes and shoved the other off him.

"I'm not possessed moron." He spat back.

"Well not any more! Father McClain just freed your ass!"

"Father? What are you talking about, Lance? You're not my dad." Keith dismissed as he got back to his feet.

"What? Nonono, 'Father' Keith." The black haired boy just stared back at him. "You know, like Father Karras and Father Merrin from 'The Exorcist' … no? Seriously, did you grow up under a rock?"

"On an asteroid to be exact!" Coran unhelpfully chimed in and Keith couldn't hold back the snarl.

"Can we _PLEASE_ talk about this later when the castle isn't trying to kill us?" He hissed through clenched teeth, and turned to see an incredibly pale Lance. Rolling his eyes, Keith continued. "I'll explain everything later, just – right now we need to focus."

"Right, yeah, ok. Uh – so what, what do we need to do?" Lance stammered, shooting his eyes over at Keith every few tics.

"My guess is the Castle is merely malfunctioning, probably a side effect from that Galra crystal being hooked up to the main systems." Coran answered, twirling his moustache as he deliberated.

"Great, so we need to go find Pidge and get them to disconnect the crystal."

"Ah a solid start Number 4, but unlikely to reverse the damage already caused. We may need to reboot the whole castle!"

"Even the engines?" Keith clarified and Coran nodded. _Quiznak, _this was bad. "If we do that we'll be at the will of any nearby source of gravity, just drifting aimlessly. We wont even be able to get our lions out if we're attacked."

"This is true, but it's the only way to purge the Castle. FULL SYSTEM REBOOT!" He shouted with a fist in the air as if it were some sort of battle cry. Keith rolled his eyes yet again and groaned, letting his head fall back.

* * *

The three of them walked the halls with purpose, Lance still sneaking sidelong glances every few tics until they reached the Green lion's hangar. The door opened and twin thuds could be heard just beyond it. Pidge and Hunk were lying on the floor of the hangar with science equipment scattered all over the place, as if it had been thrown down from the workstation.

"How can you guys be taking a nap while this Castle is trying to kill us!" Lance accused, immediately on edge and redirecting his frustration into anger.

"Taking a nap? We've been floating around in Zero G! You know how scary that is?" Hunk pleaded. Pidge groaned and cracked their back.

"That's not scary, that's FUN!" Lance countered. "I was almost ejected into space!"

"Well I got attacked by killer food, and that's the most horrifying thing you can imagine! The stuff of nightmares! It'll haunt me to my grave!"

"Well, I had a robot trying to kill me!" Keith cut in. Almost immediately, the lights started flashing red and an alarmed sounded, blaring loud enough to nearly deafen him and he slammed his hands over his ears. "UGH, Coran, why is that so _loud_?" He complained before a worrying thought settled into place, something in his gut screaming at him to check on his brother. "Wait, has any one seen Shiro?"

The group rushed for the room where they had left their Black Paladin with Sendak's pod. Coran opened the door and disabled the alarm as they entered. The room was just as dim as before but some one was missing.

"Shiro, are you ok?" Pidge asked with concern as they approached him. Keith looked at the empty pod station and frowned.

"Where's Sendak?" He asked.

"I – I had to get him out of here." Shiro looked up at them, locking eyes with Keith, and he saw the absolute panic and sheer _terror_ on the man's face. "I was hearing his voice, he – he can't be trusted on this ship." The man stammered and Keith felt his heart break for him. They should have known better, _he_ should have known better than to leave Shiro alone with the Commander. Sendak may not have been directly responsible for what happened to him, but he knew Shiro would superimpose his face onto those who hurt him. It was reasonable, it was logical, Sendak was an Empire Commander and it was the Empire who'd hurt him. But he knew it was more than that, deeper. Sendak was Galra, and Shiro was terrified of the Galra.

Keith hung his head and looked over at his team. What was he going to do? He couldn't just tell them, what if Shiro had a panic attack? He had been able to calm him down last time but Keith seriously doubted he'd be of any help this time. What about Hunk and Lance? Or Allura?

"It _is _the ship! I got stuck in a cryo-pod, then in an airlock." Lance responded. "Keith got attacked a robot, and Hunk and Pidge got attacked by food. It's been a weird morning." The Cuban finished and another alarm fired off, luckily this one was substantially lower in volume.

"What? How is that possible?" Coran puzzled as he looked at the screen, the Altean words '_Wormhole jump initiated'_ displaying prominently.

"The ship is starting a wormhole jump." Keith announced. "What's Allura doing?"

* * *

The door to the bridge opened and he wasn't surprised in the least to see the Princess, still in her nightgown, standing at the controls with a dreamy glaze to her eyes. Leaving the dim room had helped shake Shiro from his terror and pulled him back into the present, back into leader mode. Their valiant Black Paladin rushed into the bridge ahead of the pack.

"Allura, what's going on?" He demanded.

"We're going to Altea. We're going home." She answered and, ok yeah, Keith had _not_ been expecting that one. "My father is taking us."

They rushed the bridge in an attempt to reason with Allura but a particle barrier rose around her; the very one she had used to trap Sendak. The angry visage of King Alfor appeared on the screens, surrounding them all as his booming voice echoed through the room.

{ Stay away from my daughter! }

"Uhhh" Hunk whined, cowering slightly behind Lance, and Keith could feel him starting to freak out.

"Allura, wake up!" Shiro commanded but it had no effect, the dazed princess continued to stare out the front of the ship as if she hadn't even heard him.

"The crystal must have corrupted King Alfor's artificial intelligence. It's taking over!" Coran deduced.

Suddenly, the entire room was washed in a brilliant red orange glow as the castle exited the wormhole and a volatile star appeared before them. "We're headed straight for a star and it's about to explode!" Pidge announced.

"Father, I can see Altea." Allura's voice was dreamy and faint, whispered through her fading energy. Coran pleaded with her, trying to break through the hallucination the AI was creating. They went back and forth for nearly a dobash before he was able to convince her and break the spell. Allura gasped when she came back to reality, staring at the star with fear in her eyes. "That's not Altea." _No shit._ He thought.

"When that star goes supernova, it will destroy the entire system." Pidge supplied. "Allura, you must reset the course and get us out of here!"

She tried, Allura moved for the controls but Alfor's AI zapped her, sending her flying backwards into Shiro's arms as the particle barrier locked her out. She pleaded with him, begging him to turn them around but in the end there was so reasoning with the corrupted program, everything seemed hopeless. Until it glitched, cracking to reveal the real Alfor as he instructed them to disconnect him. The AI glitched over and over, trying continuously to pull Allura back into delirium, but she was strong.

They slowed the castle with their lions, buying the princess the time she needed to release Alfor's memories from the castle, destroying his AI, and severing the connection to the systems. It didn't take long for Coran to have the Castle turned around while Allura opened a new wormhole to safety.

* * *

They gathered on the bridge. "I'm so sorry about your father princess." Shiro placed his hand on Allura's shoulder and offered his comfort, Hunk chimed in as well and they all nodded in agreement. She smiled at them, her face falling into one of despair as the reality of her loss truly sunk in.

"Thank you, but that was _not_ my father." She squared her shoulders and rose to her feet, standing proud and tall. "The real King Alfor was a great man and a great father. He may not be here with us anymore, but his dream lives on through all of us, and his legacy is Voltron."

Keith nodded. He looked the princess in the eyes and smiled. "His legacy is more than just Voltron, princess. I grew up learning stories of Alfor the Great, wise and noble leader of the long lost Altea. None of us believe for one tic that that corrupted version is any reflection of the man he was." The words barely made it out of his lips before the Altean princess wrapped herself around him.

"Oh, Keith, thank you!" She cried into his shoulder and he stood there, too stunned to move; too shocked to react.

"Uh, you're welcome?" The uninvited contact was making him nervous and uncomfortable. Galra were very touchy, but only amongst those who were family or with their mates. Allura was neither of those things and Keith felt himself starting to squirm, desperately craving distance. Coran picked up on his silent pleas, placing a gentle hand on the princess' shoulder and guided her from his embrace. Keith immediately let out the breath he had been holding.

Coran was clutching Allura by her shoulders, speaking to her softly as she nodded along, occasionally wiping a tear from her cheeks with his thumb, and eventually pulling her in for a tight hug. It was sweet; he watched them and felt a pang in his chest as he realized just how much he missed his own family. Tears were prickling at the corner of his eyes but he forced them away, squaring his shoulders and turning his head to find the others.

Hunk and Pidge were animatedly explaining how they'd had to fight off the food goo to a laughing Shiro. Keith watched them for a tic before turning around, a very close grimace startling him. He jumped back and let out a faint hiss at Lance who was still a maximum of an inch from his face, glaring down at him. "What the hell, Lance."

"Stop stepping in on my princess!" The Blue Paladin whispered back.

"Your princess?" He asked incredulously, crossing his arms in defiance.

"Yes, **MY** Princess. I saw her first."

"Dude, I'm not 'stepping in' on anyone. I'm not interested in Allura."

"Then why were you flirting with her?"

"I – what? No, I wasn't flirting! Stars, Lance! I was _comforting_ her, you nimrod." Lance looked at him with clear suspicion, unable to believe his words. They stared each other down, neither willing to back off, until finally Keith threw his arms in the air. "You're so – ugh!" He literally growled, causing the other boy to flinch.

The room suddenly lapsed into silence. Coran and Allura looked at him with concerned expressions, Hunk and Pidge were staring wide eyed, but Shiro had gone pale. "What's going on over there?" he croaked, his voice cracking slightly on the words.

"Beats me, Keith just _freaked out!"_ Lance betrayed. "OH! Maybe he's still possessed."

"Possessed?" Hunk asked warily, nervous eyes flitting over Keith as though he were afraid the raven-haired boy would attack.

"Yeah, yeah – his eyes went all weird and he had these fangs! It was freaky. The castle ghost totally took him over for a bit!"

"Lance, there was no ghost." Pidge adjusted their glasses as they condescendingly corrected him. "And Keith wasn't possessed."

"That's what I said!" He confirmed, shooting a glare in Lance's direction.

"Then what's with the eyes?!"

"He's not fully Human, remember?" Pidge rolled their eyes behind giant spectacles. "He told us this back on Earth." Realization seemed to dawn on Lance and he blushed significantly, mumbling '_oh yeah' _under his breath so quietly that Keith was certain he was the only one who could hear it. Sure, Alteans had incredible hearing, but it was nothing compared to the Galra and even though Keith was only _half_ Galra, he was standing close enough to pick it up.

He looked around the room and saw Allura holding her head in shame. "Keith, I am truly sorry. I did not know. If I – If I had known, I would never have pulled you into an embrace without your permission. The others all seem to enjoy contact and I misguidedly assumed you were the same." She lifted her eyes to meet his own. "Please, can you forgive me for my lack of decorum?"

He stared back at her, mouth hanging open. What was he supposed to say to that? If he brushed the incident off it would make her feel better, but he knew she would understand just how severe of a misstep she'd made when she eventually found out he was Galra. Would she be mortified? Would she be angry that she had even apologized to him? Or would she simply not care?

"Looks like has stopped working." Pidge interjected, attempting to lighten the mood.

"I don't see what the big deal is." Lance added. He folded his arms across his chest and unconsciously did his best impression of Keith. "I mean - it's just a hug."

"Yes, well to you Humans a hug is nothing, just a friendly embrace. But touch has different meanings to different species." Coran looked over at all the paladins, even glancing at Allura briefly. "For example: back on Altea we regarded hugs much the same way you do. But for other species, such as the Burr or the Parfoogians, touch is reserved for _intimacy _only. While other species keep touch between family members."

"Well, what about your species." Lance directed, throwing Keith under a spotlight he did _not_ want. Coran and Pidge didn't come to his rescue this time.

"We – uh, we reserve touch for families and - and mates." He stuttered, suddenly feeling his mouth go dry.

"Mates?" Allura asked with an odd inflection to her voice.

Pidge nodded, elaborating and making Keith mentally facepalm. "Mates are like spouses, significant others, partners."

"I know what 'mates' are Pidge, thank you." The princess condescendingly spat back at the young paladin. "It is a term not commonly heard, not many species refer to their partners as 'mates'." She turned her glare back on him. "Most that do are either primitive or uncivilized." And he recoiled at the implication.

"Ouch." Whispered Pidge under her breath and the room hung in a heavy silence. No one dared to speak for several dobashes, especially not Keith.

"Well?" Allura prompted, cutting the silence and adding to the mounting tension. "Who are you really?"

In an instant Keith went from meek to defiant. Rising to her accusation and feeling the hair on his neck bristle. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then another. When he finally opened his eyes again, they were narrow purple slits set in a brilliant golden yellow sclera. His lips were pulled back far enough to show off his sharp teeth and Keith tucked his hair behind his ears, revealing the slight point at their tips as he stared the princess down. "Who am I really?" He asked incredulously, voice laced with indignation as he rose to her challenge. "My name is Keith Kogane, I was born on Earth like the other paladins, but was taken away by my mother when I was 3 deca-phoebs old after Earth's Galaxy Garrison learned of our presence. It was no longer safe for a half alien child to be raised on a pre-contact planet so we left to let my mother's people raised me. My father is Kolton Kogane, a fireman and ex Garrison fighter pilot. My mother is Krolia, of the Blade of Marmora, a rebel organization fighting to destroy the Empire from the inside. I am half Human and half Galra." He paused to take another deep breath and process the round of gasps from everyone not named Pidge or Coran.

"I am a trained Blade of Marmora Operative who was sent to Earth to protect the Blue Lion of Voltron from the Emperor. I met the other paladins while undercover, but couldn't tell them anything because it would have blown my cover and put me at great risk of being discovered. I tried to tell everyone back at my dad's cabin but – it was too hard after we had just rescued Shiro from the Garrison." He turned to face Shiro, noting the lack of colour on the man's face and the slight tremor in his prosthetic arm. "Shiro, it was one of our members that helped you escape Central Command. His name is Ulaz and he is a good man. I cashed in a favour with one of the rebel leaders, a woman named Te-Osh, to get Matt out as well. We couldn't get Mr. Holt, he had already been moved and my sources don't know where. Pidge and I have been trying to track him down."

"Pidge?" The princess whirled around to look in absolute shock down at the tiny Green Paladin. "You knew?"

"Yes." They answered honestly. "I've known for quite a while actually. I figured it out before Sendak took over the castle."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Lance asked, his voice shaky.

Pidge merely shrugged. "Wasn't my place."

"If we are confessing things, then – well, I'm afraid I must confess that I also knew about Number 4 was Galra." Coran added and Allura looked as though she had been kicked in the gut. "I'm sorry princess, I couldn't betray his trust like that. As Number 5 said, it wasn't our place to say anything."

"When – when did you learn of this?" Her voice sounded more hurt and betrayed than anything and Keith realized Coran had been right; he should have come forward a long time ago.

"Since the paladins arrived. The castle ran a genetic scan when they first entered and, as the others were off gathering their lions, I confronted Keith about his results."

"Coran, we will talk about this later." She spoke to her father's advisor rather harshly before the princess turned her ire on him and Keith drew on every single moment of his Blade training to stand tall and resist the urge to wither under her powerful glare. "Out, everyone. Leave us." She commanded, her eyes ever leaving Keith's. Pidge glanced over in his direction but he gave her a curt nod, confirming that he was fine. It took a dobash or so, but eventually they all left the two of them alone. It was Keith and Allura, alone on the bridge, no one to back either of them up.

He had been facing the door, watching the others leave and when he turned his head back, the sharp sting of her open palm across his face sent him reeling. Instinctively his hand came up to rest against his burning cheek and a small whine escaped him, one he hadn't made since he was a very young kit. Keith took a stumbling step back and looked up at the princess in shock. She almost seemed to grow in stature right before his eyes – actually, she _was_ getting taller. Alteans had the ability to modify their appearance, and she was making herself a full head taller than him as an intimidation tactic. He rolled his eyes at her and crossed his arms over his chest, shifting his weight to the left side of his hip.

"Allura -" he began, only to be immediately cut off.

"PRINCESS Allura!" She seethed. His natural confrontational attitude was _begging_ him to call her out, she wasn't _his_ princess, but his gut urged him to be respectful and it had never let him down. So he listened.

"You're right, my apologies. Princess Allura, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I just – I was scared of how you'd react."

"How I'd react? To finding out there's a _Galra _living in my Castle, flying MY FATHER'S LION?" Her words sent a shiver through his spine and, coupled with the responding growl from Red in his mind, it created a very odd sensation. She must have felt it too – or maybe the growl wasn't just in his mind, her face visibly paled and she let out a huff. "I supposed there's nothing that can be done about that. The lion's choose their paladins and I can't – we need you to stay. But you are _not_ welcome. I will be limiting your clearance in the castle. I don't want a Galra anywhere near the archives, or our food, or our main systems."

He rolled his eyes at her. "Princess, if I was going to sabotage anything I'd have done it by now. I'm NOT connected to the Empire; I was raised in the Blades. We fight against the monster the Emperor has become, we fight to free the people he has enslaved."

"You think a few Galra rebels will convince me?"

"A few? Our entire organization is Galra. Thousands of us, risking our lives to take down the Empire. We've been fighting this war for millennia!"

"And yet you have nothing to show for it." His breath hitched and he took a wounded step back. Looking up at her towering form, he felt his heart sink.

"We have a grave yard that covers an entire planet to show for it." Keith wrenched his gaze away from her, looking down at his tightly clenched fists. "You lost your entire race, your planet, your culture to Zarkon – but so did we. Daibazaal was destroyed, my species is nothing like we once were; our culture has been replaced by propaganda. In the Blades we try to preserve the old ways but it's hard when we're all soldiers. Our numbers drop faster than they naturally replenish." She didn't say anything; he chanced a glance in her direction and saw that she was watching him, a complicated expression on her delicate features.

Something stirred within him, and he saw it reflected in Allura's eyes. With a deep breath, he tried another approach. In his terribly inept Altean, he broke the silence. "We learned a great deal about Altea too." Her eyes shot wide and he saw a glimmer of hope, pressing on he pulled on every single one of the Altean lessons he hadn't paid attention to. "Ms. Proxa, my instructor, insisted that we learn about the great people of Altea. She said that we could learn from them and become better diplomats ourselves by learning their ways. Your ways." He took another breath, her face was starting to soften and she had returned to her natural height. "I grew up on stories of Voltron, how the mighty lions were built by the great King Alfor of Altea to fight for peace and unity, how Voltron was as much a symbol of freedom as it was a weapon."

"The Galra were our allies a long time ago." She spoke quietly, looking him firmly in the eyes. Though the utter hatred had faded away, her gaze was not friendly. "A Galra paladin betrayed Volron once, how do I know it wont happen again?"

"I am _not_ Zarkon." She gasped at his bluntness. Knowing he was about to launch into a rant, he switched to his native Galran and watched her wince upon hearing the language. "Zarkon was once a great man and a noble warrior. He was a valiant leader and beloved Emperor until the quintessence field corrupted him. The monster that sits on the throne and calls himself our Emperor is not the Zarkon your father knew. He died a good man, what came back – the Emperor can't even be called 'Galra' any more. The quintessence of Sendak's crystal corrupted King Alfor's AI, and it was quintessence that corrupted the Emperor. The Galra – my people, we aren't inherently evil, you can't just slap a label on all of us that says 'Big Bad Galra' and be done with it. Some, like Sendak and Prorok, are undyingly loyal to the Empire, they believe in Galran superiority and the quest for power. But others, like our Leader and my mother and the rest of the Blades, are not. We fight _against_ tyranny, against the hate and corruption."

She raised her hand in front of her, signalling him to stop and he obliged. "Keith I, I need to lie down. I'm still very tired and this news is – well, it's taking all of my energy to stand here. I will sleep on this. I will think on what you have told me and I will tell you where we stand tomorrow. In the mean time, contact your leader as I wish to speak with them." Her voice wasn't harsh or rude, but it wasn't kind either: neutral. He gave her a curt nod and a grunt of confirmation.

"Do you need assistance?"

"Call Coran." She ordered and he did. He made his way to the Red Paladin console and messaged for Coran to return to the bridge. It didn't take long, maybe 5 dobashes, before the ginger man came respectfully into the room. He exchanged a careful look with Keith, spoke calmly with the princess, and bid him goodnight as he escorted Allura out of the room.

Keith sat back in his chair. Red was purring in the back of his head, and a massive weight had been lifted, but he still felt like shit. The situation with Allura was up to her now, there was nothing further he could do or say and she would come to her own decision. Hunk and Lance were going to be easier, he knew Pidge was probably talking to them, explaining everything and bringing them around. But it was the look Shiro had given him; one of absolute terror and unrestrained horror that was haunting him now.

They were so close back on Earth, Shiro having gone out of his way on countless occasions to make Keith more at ease, to help him blend in, and to cheer him up. This was going to take more than a heated discussion, more than some rationalizing to fix. It would probably require space, and time, and an outside force. Someone who had been hurt by the Empire like he had, someone who had also thought Keith was Human, and someone who was close enough to be considered a confidante; someone like Matt.


	7. Paladin or Blade

**PALADIN OR BLADE**

The silence seemed to stretch for eternity. He stared at the communicator again, waiting for a response, but there was no change. The face on the other end continued to stare in deafening silence. The tics turned to dobashes as they passed and still Keith stared at the silent image in his hand.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Kolivan spoke and Keith let out a relieved sigh at his Leader's words. _"Very well. You are granted 1 quintant. I await the princess' call."_ And with that their conversation was over. He fell backwards onto his bed and stared up at the ceiling, open communicator still in his hand. This was not good, Kolivan was pissed, Keith was in deep shit, and Allura probably hated him. Not to mention Shiro. _Stars!_ Shiro probably hated him too – or worse, was scared of him. He wanted to go talk to his friend but he also wanted to give the man space. It was all so conflicting. And then there was Lance and Hunk. Who knew what they were feeling about the whole 'reveal' thing. A groan escaped him as he tossed his communicator onto the bedside table.

Aliens made everything more complicated. If this were the Blades, and the team were Galra, he'd know exactly what to do to fix the situation. But they weren't Galra, they were Humans and Alteans, and he had no clue what his next move should be. Groaning again, he let his head roll from side to side. "Ughh, why is this so difficult!" He shouted out into the silence.

Alone in his room, Keith lay completely still. The darkness broken only by the soft blue lights lining the base of each wall; even with the main lighting off, it was still too bright for him to sleep. Leaving his eyes in their more Human version helped, since they took in less light, but they were still substantially more sensitive than the other Paladin's eyes. He pulled the pillow out from under his head and laid it over his face blocking the light, yet even this wasn't much better. Sure it blocked the light, but it also sent his warm breath back at him, making the air around his face hot and damp. A part of him wanted to pull out his knife and just break each of the little lights, plunging the room into the sweet relief of darkness. But the princess probably wouldn't be too thrilled if he vandalized her castle; so he refrained. Keith was practically a martyr.

A shuffling sound filtered in from the hallway. Perking up, he focused his hearing on the soft sounds, listening for anything that would identify the person outside. He heard more movement, followed by some mumbling but no follow up mumbles, meaning there was only a single person on the other side. The shuffling seemed to move away, then come back, then move away in the opposite direction before returning and repeating the cycle; pacing. With a groan he got to his feet and opened the door.

"Hey, Lance." He sighed as the door opened, revealing a ghostly pale, and rather frazzled looking, Blue Paladin. The boy's eyes shot wide and he took a tentative step back before blinking several times and rubbing the back of his neck. Keith watched the motion, he could almost _feel_ the tension radiating off the other as sweat beaded on the sides of his temples and made the short brown short hair on the back of head glisten. Softening his voice and adopting a much more casual stance, Keith leaned in the door frame, arms crossed over his chest, and hair still a mess from having been lying down. "Did you, uh – did you want something?"

Lance almost seemed to flinch at the words and he didn't speak, merely nodding his head quietly as he stood in the empty hall in his blue pyjamas and lion slippers; a soft, mint green, goo spread over his face. Keith stepped aside and let the tanned boy in. He stood in the middle of Keith's room, looking around in confusion before shrugging and plopping down on the floor with his back against the bed and his legs crossed in front. With a slight huff, Keith sat beside him.

"It's dark in here." Was all the Cuban managed to spit out. There was a heaviness to his words, his entire demeanour lacking its natural brightness and enthusiasm. Lance kept his head down, not making eye contact and instead choosing to stare intently at the fingernails he was picking at in his lap. It was very 'un-Lance' behaviour.

"Yea, the bright lights hurt my eyes."

Lance looked at him for a moment, taking in his expression and seemingly noting how Keith's eyes gave off a faint glow in the dim lighting. If he shifted them back to yellow the glow would be stronger. "Cause you're Galra right?" Keith nodded in response and Lance looked back down at his apparently very interesting hands. "Was it, like – hard?" Rings of sapphire made their way back to him, staring into confused amethyst as a Keith experienced something rare, something almost mythical; a moment of vulnerability from Lance.

He quirked his brow, not fully understanding the question, and the Blue Paladin elaborated. "Being away from your family. I – I'm really having a hard time with …" he trailed off into indecipherable mutterings, uncrossing his legs and pulling them up to his chest. Lance buried his face in his knees and the rest of his words were lost.

He watched the boy, because that what Lance was – a boy. All of them were really. Just kids, teens, thrust into a war they didn't know anything about, forced to fight as more than just soldiers, but as symbols of freedom. Keith was the only one of them who had any actual wartime experience, while Shiro and Coran were the only ones who classed as adults. Sure, Allura and Coran had been around for the start of the war, but Alfor had sheltered the princess and the latter was an advisor, not a soldier. Watching Lance was like looking back in time, he remembered this feeling.

"When I was a kit I was reassigned to the Thaldycon system because I broke the rules. It was a punishment, but it was also the catalyst I needed to make me grow up." Lance looked up at him with confusion, clearly wondering where the story was going. "And when I came to Earth I felt so disconnected and alone, I couldn't tell anyone about myself and I had a terrible time trying to adjust to the cultural differences. I missed my home so damn much it actually hurt sometimes. Having my dad around helped, until I'd remember that I'd eventually be leaving Earth and probably wouldn't ever see him again. I spent a lot of nights crying myself to sleep out of loneliness - "

"You were lonely?" Lance interjected. "I thought _loners_ didn't get lonely."

"I'm not a 'loner' Lance. I just had a hard time connecting to Humans and it was easier to be alone than to makeup an entire backstory that didn't scream 'hey guys I'm an alien'. I was terrified the Garrison would figure out I'm only part Human and take me down into the more classified areas of the base to run experiments on me."

"Is that why you puked when we dissected those frogs in biology?" He asked and Keith nodded, growing slightly pale at the memory.

"It hit a little close to home. I kept picturing myself as the frog … that and the smell. My senses are stronger than yours and I couldn't handle the intensity. I can still smell the formaldehyde when I think about the it." This time it was Lance who paled and nodded. "Normally that kind of stuff doesn't bother me. I've been trained to kill without hesitation, but I don't know – it was just, a little too similar to what my dad said the Garrison would do to me if they ever found out what I am." Now Lance was staring at him in shock.

"I don't think the Garrison would do that."

"Well, that makes one of us."

They sat in silence for a bit, Lance made the odd attempt to speak but ultimately aborted each of them. After almost 20 dobashes he finally broke, his voice barely above a whisper. "What do you think they said about us?"

"Huh?" Lance looked up at him again, this time he appeared to be on the brink of tears. "Who?" Keith asked, softer this time.

"The Garrison. When the Kerberos mission failed -"

"It didn't fail. They were taken by the Empire."

"Right. But when the mission didn't go as planned, the Garrison spun a story about failure and basically ran Shiro's name through the mud. Do you think they did that to us? What do you think they told our parents?"

"I – I actually don't know. They probably said the truth though; we disappeared into the desert and hadn't been heard from since. Granted, the Garrison would probably leave out the part where a giant robotic blue lion launched into space from a cave – but still."

Lance snickered and Keith felt a swell of pride for having lightened the mood until the sudden fall of his face brought the heaviness back to the air. "You know the most about the Galra. What are the chances we make it out of this war alive?"

"Not good." He paused a moment before elaborating. "If we work together with the rebels and the Blades, then we have a much better chance. I just – I don't think it's going to be easy for everyone to work together at first."

"I hope you're wrong."

"Me too."

"I really miss them; my family. I miss Cuba, I miss speaking Spanish, I miss my mom and my dad and my Abuela and my brothers and sisters, and just _Earth._ Don't get me wrong, it's so cool to be a Paladin and fly around in Blue and like, the whole rescuing a super hot alien Princess thing was awesome, but – I'm just a boy from Cuba, and I want to go home." There were tears streaming down his face now, causing the minty mask to run and drip off his chin as it joined the smeared sections on his knees.

Keith placed a firm hand on his fellow paladin's shoulders, squeezing slightly in a typical Human comfort gesture that he hoped to the Ancients he was doing correctly. It must have worked because not a tic later, the Blue Paladin threw himself into Keith's arms and cried on his shoulder. Stunned and completely taken off guard, he rubbed his hand on the others back in soft circles, letting a soothing purr escape to calm him. It seemed to help, after a dobash or so the crying faded and Lance's heart rate began to even out.

"Are – are you purring?" He asked as he pushed himself up, separating the two. Keith immediately felt self-conscious and the invading blush was unwelcome. "No no, it's cool dude, I mean it was a little weird but you're like, an actual alien so it's fine I guess. Wow, the Galra really are just giant purple space cats."

Keith snorted, rolled his eyes, and flexed his claws as he hissed dramatically at Lance, causing the boy to shriek and scamper back while the Red paladin snorted with laughter. "You're face." He managed to get out between gasps and watched as the aforementioned face morphed into an expert level pout. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys sooner, really, I am."

"It's ok. Believe it or not I actually understand. It was hard for me to come out as bi to my family, but I did it. And I guess this is similar in a way – except my people never committed mass genocide, or tried taking over the entire universe."

Keith rolled his eyes, but the shift had happened, Lance had processed the news and his pain over his family, coming out the other side. And Keith had helped. He had been the one to calm him down and reassure his friend, because that's what he and Lance were now. They were friends. He smiled as he watched the lighthearted nature of their Blue Paladin slowly start to take hold again. "You're a pain in the ass. And for the record – the Empire is not _all_ Galra. We aren't inherently evil like Commanders Sendak and Prorok, or the Emperor."

"Why do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Say 'the Empire' or 'the Emperor' instead of just Zarkon, and you call Sendak and Prorok 'Commander'. I don't get it."

"It's a respect thing. My people are a military society, we respect those who have earned a high rank. It means they are fierce, smart, determined, and resourceful; traits we Galra greatly admire. I'm not associated with the Empire, in **any way**, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm still Galra and like it or not Zarkon is still my Emperor … Until we correct that." He added with a wink. "I hate it when Allura, Shiro, Coran, Pidge, Hunk, and even you say 'the Galra' when you mean the Empire. It lumps all of us into the same category. I've been trying to separate the _species_ from the _Empire_ in your minds but it's really hard with Allura hating my entire race." He took a deep breath and steadied himself before continuing.

"Most of the soldiers we fight are just soldiers following orders, they're not evil or monstrous or anything like that – they're just people who are on the wrong side because that's where they were born. They grow up in the Empire's academies, getting their heads pumped full of propaganda, and believing they aren't destroying the Universe on the Emperor's orders. Most don't even see any real battle until they have to face Voltron."

"Does it bother you when we blow up ships?"

"Yes." He replied without missing a beat. "After a battle, when we come back to the castle, I offer a plea to the stars to watch over their souls. It's what we do in the Blades if we have to kill anyone. We ask the stars to guide their soul to their ancestors, since their families aren't there to do it." He looked up and saw Lance giving him an odd look. "You think I'm weird now don't you?"

"I always thought you were weird, Mullet. But this I understand. It really bothered me when we blew up that first ship and I realized we'd probably killed a bunch of people. I was raised Catholic and it was just really hard to justify. Hunk and I talked for hours about it and he made me feel a bit better, but not really. I still feel really guilty and all that. When we get back to Earth I'm going to blow Father Garcia's mind in confession." They burst out laughing at the thought of Lance in a small booth explaining how he'd spent possible deca-pheobs fighting purple aliens for control of the universe. The bright-eyed Cuban even made a joke about Keith coming along to act as his proof that aliens were real. Then thinking better of it when the latter switched his eyes back to violet slits set in rich gold and Lance said he might be mistaken for possessed instead.

Keith had laughed and made ghost sounds, mocking Lance for having made the same mistake earlier that quintant. Vargas passed and the atmosphere of the room changed dramatically, no longer heavy and emotional but now light and friendly. Keith was lying sideways on his bed, feet propped up against the wall and head hanging over the side. While Lance had moved to lay on his back in the middle of the room, feet kicking in the air as if riding an invisible bicycle while he supported his hips with his hands. They were laughing heartily when the door to his room opened, revealing Shiro.

The Black Paladin cleared his throat and stood silently for a moment, watching them. He chuckled when Lance lost his balance and those long legs came crashing down, one landing firmly on the side of Keith's head. The young Blade let out a sharp hiss and swatted at the offending appendage, but Lance merely laughed it off. The more casual demeanour between them did wonders for Shiro's disposition. The air around him had felt tense and uneasy, but it was slowly dissipating and Keith could feel his friend underneath it.

A sly grin, and a quirk at the corner of his mouth pealed away the final pieces of his mask. "No no, don't let me interrupt your _bonding moment_." They burst out laughing while simultaneously sputtering their protests, but Shiro maintained his shit-eating grin. His smirk faltered slightly when he moved his focus to Keith but with a snap it was back in place, though less sincere than before. "Pidge managed to crack Sendak's memories and they've asked for your help."

"Why do they need my help? I already said I want nothing to do with this."

"The Castle isn't translating very clearly. Coran said it's most likely because the Galran language has changed in the past ten thousand years. You're the only one who can read it." Keith nodded and pushed backwards off the wall, flipping over his head to land on his feet. Lance let out an impressed '_woah'_ and Shiro's eyes widened, before looking down to avoid eye contact. He stepped aside to let Keith walk out of the room and flinched when he got too close.

It hurt. This reaction from Shiro hurt more than Allura, more than Lance and Hunk's initial reactions, more than even his imagination had thought it would. To have someone he cared about so strongly, even considered a part of his family, reject him like this; it _hurt_. He offered a pained smile; it was a struggle to force the edges of his lips to curl up and to force the stupid tears that were pricking at his eyes to go the fuck away. But he did, he put on a brave face and stepped around Shiro as he made his way down the hall.

The walk to the bridge was more awkward than anything. Lance scurried up to stand beside him, continuing his line of thought from before Shiro had interrupted and Keith tried to listen. He caught every fourth word and every third erratic hand gesture, but he didn't miss a single hitched breath from behind him. Shiro had insisted that Keith lead, he knew why – it was standard training for dealing with a potential hostile; always keep them in your line of site. And that knowledge added to the hurt. His friend, his mentor, his _brother_ was treating him like the enemy and that sent waves of grief through him.

A sudden smack to his left arm pulled him from his reverie, making Keith hiss violently at the attacker. Lance shrieked but regained his composure relatively quickly. "Dude, are you even listening to me?"

"No. You fucking hit me!"

"Ya, cause you aren't listening!" out of the corner of his eye Keith watched as Shiro deactivated his hand. "I said it would be cool to speak an alien language."

"You do speak an alien language. You actually speak two alien languages; English and Spanish."

"No no, I mean an _actual_ alien language like Altean or Galran or something." Keith rolled his eyes.

"I can teach you Common if you want. Actually, you should all learn Common. You can't rely on the suit's translators all the time."

"That's a really good idea, Keith." Shiro added and he turned to beam at the man. There might be hope for their relationship after all. "What languages do you speak?"

"Galran is my native language, but I'm fluent in Common and English as well. My Altean is absolute crap and I can say a few things in Olkari, but not much. Oh, and my dad tried teaching me Japanese back on Earth but I suck at it." He paused, fighting down the blush and building up the courage. "Himitsu o gomen'nasai."

Shiro's eyes widened and a genuine smile spread on his face. "Good attempt. Your pronunciation is … not great."

"Wait was that Japanese? It sounded like shitty Spanish." Lance interrupted.

"The Castle translated it for you. Any language that you speak, the Castle and the lions and the paladin armour can translate into. Altean tech is pretty cool." Keith clarified, barely getting the end of his sentence out before Lance was jumping all over it.

"So I can walk around speaking in Spanish and everyone will be able to understand me no problem?" Keith nodded. "HOLY SHIT! This changes everything!" The Cuban began rambling about how he had been so worried his connection to home was slipping away, and how being able to speak Spanish meant he could feel closer to his family, and blah blah blah mostly Keith was surprised to hear Lance's voice in Galran. It threw him for a loop at first, expecting the Castle to translate it into English but if he really thought about it, this made substantially more sense. Galran was his native language; of course it's what the Castle would default him to. He heard Allura and Coran in Galran, why would he expect anything else.

Shiro had not been expecting it. "Weird hearing Lance speaking your native language isn't it?" Keith asked him and the Black Paladin nodded, smiling as the young Cuban continued to ramble on and on and on in his own little world.

They made it to the bridge and found the entirety of the Castle waiting for them. "Guess we weren't the only ones who couldn't sleep, Mullet." Lance commented as he jabbed a very bony elbow into his ribs. Keith shot him a glare.

"WOAH WOAH! Did everybody else hear that? Lance, buddy, you can speak Samoan? Why didn't you tell me this? I feel like you really should have told me this!" Hunk sputtered, excitedly tripping over his own words. Pidge rolled their eyes and Allura explained the castle's translators and how they worked, like Keith had just done moments before.

He walked over to the Green Paladin chair, noting how Allura didn't move from her position though she stiffened at his proximity. He took up a spot to the right behind Pidge and glanced over their shoulder to read the words on the screen, letting out a bark of unexpected laughter. Naturally, all eyes landed on him immediately.

"Sorry." He muttered. "It's just – it's no wonder the Castle didn't translate this very well. The words are encoded." Pidge opened their mouth, about to argue, and he immediately continued. "Encoded, not encrypted. It's a basic language code the Empire uses. We learn it in the Blades so we can pass as Empire soldiers if we're questioned. It's kinda like pig Latin on Earth … well, it's actually nothing like pig Latin, but it's the same idea in that it plays with the structure of an existing language … sort of. Basically, you take the intended words and replace them rhyming words that have a similar meaning." He leaned in and pointed at a string of characters on the screen. "See these? They translate directly to 'Space Base' but what they _mean_ is 'Galactic Hub'. And these ones -" he pointed to another set of characters further down "- say 'Pure Cure' but they mean 'Quintessence Refinery'." The others gave him an odd look and he rolled his eyes. "Quintessence isn't just harvested for fuel; it's also used in medicines and by the Druids for their rituals."

Keith pulled out his Blade data pad, typing as quickly as he could while Hunk leaned over his shoulder and Pidge pulled down on the corner to get a better view. It didn't matter if they looked, they couldn't read Galran anyways. After confirming his suspicion, he turned the data pad to the group, displaying 8 bright purple dots and 4 pink ones. "These -" he pointed to yet another set of characters on Pidge's screen "- are the coordinates for the refinery. We know of 8 that are currently active and 4 that are abandoned, but these coordinates don't match any of our records." He punctuated his words by wiggling the data pad.

Coran moved to stand at the central control station. "I'm pulling up the location of your Hub Base thing on our screens now." He explained as he typed. The screen displayed two small planets and a large moon, but nothing else.

"Sooo, where is it?" Lance asked, speaking for the group.

Looking down at his controls, Coran furrowed his brow. "I don't know. Our long-range sensors are unable to find anything at those coordinates."

"Maybe he remembered it wrong." Keith supplied. "Or he could have intentionally given us a false memory." He knew it was possible; their deepest cover operatives were trained to provide false memories for the Druids. There's no reason to believe Sendak wasn't capable of the same.

"Or maybe we just stumbled across a top-secret base in Sendak's memories." Pidge deduced, their fingers steepled in front of their face.

"Only one way to find out. Let's go take a look." Allura's word was final. It wasn't a tic later that Coran was setting their course and the castle was taking off at an incredible speed.

"Alright paladins, you have 10 vargas before we arrive. Get some sleep and freshen your daisies!" Coran exclaimed to a collective groan and a few snickers.

"Ugh, why does space travel have to take so long?" Hunk complained as he, Lance, and Pidge headed back to their rooms.

Keith instead turned to face Allura who was talking to Shiro and Coran. He cleared his throat and all six eyes focused on him. Suddenly, he felt incredibly nervous, as though a spotlight were shining directly over head. "Uh, Princess? I need to talk to you if you have a moment."

"What about?" She asked completely deadpan, voice void of all emotion and eyes narrowing slightly in suspicion.

"The organization I told you I'm a member of; The Blade of Marmora, our Leader wants to speak with you. In a private call."

"What about?" she continued, her tone becoming even more clipped.

"Not sure, he wouldn't tell me." Allura stared at him for a moment, not saying a word, not giving a hint of what she was thinking. After several tics she held out her hand, open palm up, and made a 'give it here' gesture towards the data pad he'd been clutching.

Walking over Keith placed the pad in her palm and she immediately tucked it under her arm, turning back to face Coran and Shiro. "Right, as I was saying, we need to consider what could be waiting for us when we arrive. It could be nothing, or it could be a heavily guarded top-secret station."

"Uh, Princess?" Once again she didn't speak to him, merely turning to look his way with a wordless expression. "You, uh, you'll need me to activate the pad. It's Galran tech."

"Shiro's prosthetic will suffice." No emotion. He felt his chest deflate and nodded once before leaving the room.

* * *

"We'll need to enter here: the central control building." Allura announced and Keith nearly dropped his jaw.

"I'm sorry, Princess, did you 'we' ?" He clarified and was met with a glare.

"I'm going with you. I've traveled through the Galra transportation hubs many times with my father before the war began."

"Princess, I'd rather you stay here." Coran interjected and her ire finally moved off Keith and onto a new target.

"I'm a part of this fight against Zarkon as much as anyone. I'm going. Does anyone have a problem with that?" She scanned the room looking for those who had the nerve to object. The others hummed, hawed, and whistled as they avoided eye contact and she crossed her arms in satisfaction. Keith had an objection though.

"Fine. Suit up." Shiro conceded to both Keith and Coran's shock.

Shiro was going along with it? Keith spoke up. "What? You can't be serious!"

"And why not?" Allura turned her intense gaze back to him, boring into his soul.

"Because it's a stupid quiznaking idea. This isn't just a transport hub Allura; it's a refinery. That means there's probably a Druid there."

"I have made my decision."

* * *

The base had been surprisingly easy to access and it made him nervous. Their plans were going smoothly and it made him nervous. Pidge gained access to the primary systems with little trouble and it made him nervous. This entire endeavour was making him nervous. Something was bound to fail, and the more little things that went smoothly, the more he worried it would be a big one that didn't.

Keith watched out the control tower's window, keeping an eye on the soldiers and sentries down below. He could hear the others yapping away in the background but he wasn't really listening. Instead, his focus was on the very large Empire cruiser that was preparing to dock. The emblems on the side declared it as part of the Central Command fleet. _Quiznak!_

"Ah guys, sorry to interrupt, but I think we've got company." He jumped in the middle of Hunk's story. A large looming shadow over took the control tower and instinctively, all 6 of them ducked under the workstations. "Think we should get out of here?" He asked, huddling together with the others.

"We just need a few more seconds." Pidge replied, typing feverishly on their laptop.

Keith looked up at the screen just in time for 'Incoming Message' to be displayed. _Quiznak! _"Get Down" he hissed through clenched teeth. The line opened up and he could hear the confusion from the soldier on the other end.

"He's still looking. I think he's waiting for a signal or something." Lance whispered.

"I got it." Hunk replied and … oh no. NO! **NO!** _Quiznak HUNK!_ He thought to himself, very clearly face palming under the workstation as the large boy hoisted up a deactivated sentry, working it like a puppet.

_"Command Fleet: Octa-brak-7-8 checking in."_ The soldier spoke. Keith watched Hunk panic and as the Yellow Paladin went to speak he cut him off.

Staying hidden under the desk, he let his voice speak for the sentry, slipping easily into his native Galran. "Checking system logs." He said in his most military voice possible and mimed an exaggerated typing action to Hunk. The larger boy pretended to type with the sentry's arms and after a moment Keith spoke again. "Arrival confirmed. Any additional supplies or personnel to declare?"

_"Negative. Permission to dock?"_

"Permission granted. Dock as per standard protocol. No special instructions." He quickly mimed the Galran salute and Hunk slammed the sentry's right arm over its chest. "Vrepit Sa."

_"Vrepit Sa." _And with that the link disconnected. They all let out a collective sigh of relief and crawled from their hiding places.

* * *

"You can't be serious!" He practically yelled at a 7 foot tall purple Allura.

"Completely."

"Allura! _QUIZNAK!_ This is the worst idea I have ever heard! You don't have a plan! How are you going to get back if they launch? What are you going to do if you're caught? What if there's a Druid on board the ship? Seriously! You can't just run onto a Command Cruiser without the proper paper work! You're going to be caught, your going to be thrown in a cell, and you're _not_ going to be coming back! Do you expect 4 lions to invade Central Command to get your assess out of there? Not even VOLTRON could attack central right now and without Shiro – WE CAN'T FORM VOLTRON!" He threw his hands in the air, well aware of the fact that he was now yelling at her … at the top of his lungs … in Galran. He could feel the hold on his more Human features slipping.

"This is not up for debate. Shiro and I will sneak onto the ship as discussed. We will connect Pidge to their system, and then we will leave the ship immediately. You're opinion has been noted but is of no concern to me at this moment." She glared angrily down at him and, not for the first time, he hated how short he was. "My decision is final. Come, Shiro, we don't have much time."

_"Foolish Girl."_ He muttered under his breath is terrible Altean, knowing full well she would hear him. The look of pure rage she shot over her shoulder proved him right.

* * *

He watched out the control tower's windows as Allura pushed her cartload of Shiro towards the ship, disappearing inside. A moment or two later he felt it; the cold chill that ran up his spine. He'd felt this before, when he was a younger kit, first starting out his more advanced training. The hairs on the back of his neck pricked up and he scanned frantically around the base, searching for the source he knew he'd find here. He _knew _it. He'd warned them all that one of _them_ would be here. And he'd been right, _stars_ he wished he wasn't right.

"Yikes, check out that scary Dude." Lance commented and Keith was at his side in an instant. It was a Druid. He felt the flutter in his chest and the nausea that accompanied these foul creatures. _Stars_, he wanted off this base.

"We need to go. Now! Contact Allura and tell her to get the fuck out of there."

"Keith, buddy, you don't look so good man. You ok?" Hunk asked, rising to his feet and taking a tentative step closer to the Red Paladin. Keith ignored him, he watched as the Druid gathered the two containers of quintessence and headed off into the bowels of the base.

A sudden thought popped into his head. This was a refinery. One of the closest guarded secrets of the Empire was how Zarkon got his concentrated quintessence. The Blades had tried to replicate the methods they found in records but nothing produced the same results. Kolivan had suspected for a while now that it had something to do with the Druids, and Keith agreed. He was quintessence sensitive, had he been born in the Empire he would have been taken to become a Druid. Perhaps if he saw what the Druids did, he could find a way to replicate it himself. That could give them an edge, finally. "I'm going to go check it out."

"How about we just lay low and you don't blow our cover?" Lance countered but he ignored him, continuing on his way to follow that Druid. "Keith, think about what you're doing. Don't walk through that door!" He walked through the door, feeling it shut with finality behind him, and then took at off at a run as soon it sealed.

* * *

The room was massive. The walls lining the hexagonal structure contained 4 shelves, each stacked with rows and rows of quintessence containers. Including the shipping crates waiting to be unloaded there was easily a thousand canisters just in this room alone.

On a platform stood the Druid, hands outstretched as it began the ritual. Keith watched with rapt attention, studying the arm motions and each flick of the wrist. "Coran, you need to see this." He said as he activated the recording feature on his helmet. There was another who would need to see this footage as well, but he would have to wait before he could speak with Kolivan.

The Altean gasped as the line connected. _"I've never seen anything like it."_

_"What is that?" _Pidge's voice came over the com, followed by the metallic sounding voice of a standard issue Sentry.

{ The material is quintessence, the substance with the highest known energy per unit volume in the universe. }

_"What? Impossible!" _Coran, Pidge, and the sentry went back and forth but Keith's attention was locked on the Druid in front of him. The next container was being loaded into place and the newly refined vile was being set on a transport cart.

"Guys, I'm going to steal some." He ran off from his hiding place and followed the cart down the now vacant hall, jumping over the former guards in the process. Snatching the much smaller canister of refined quintessence, he tucked and rolled into a corner. Looking over his shoulder, Keith noticed the Druid was nowhere to be seen. _Quiznak!_

A sudden chill ran up his spine and a scream from his gut told him to turn around. As he did the Druid re appeared directly in front of him, sending him flying backwards and tumbling across the hall, dropping the vile in the process. Without batting an eye, Keith jumped to his feet and drew his bayard. "Ok, Plan B." He shouted at them in Galran, charging with his weapon drawn. They foul creature kept apparating around the room. "Cheater." He mumbled and swore he heard a sickly laugh echoing around him.

He let his instincts take over, the tentative hold on his more Human features falling away completely as he gave in. The urge to roll to the side had him narrowly avoid a lightning blast, and well-timed jump allowed him to nearly get a blow on the creature. He trusted his gut; he let it direct his actions as instinct controlled him. A surge of power from the Druid sent him flying yet again, this time into one of the various quintessence canisters, shattering the glass and spilling its contents. The lightning grazed his hand and it _burned_ from the contact. He cradled it close to his chest but could barely move it, the entire appendage pulsing in agony.

The Druid did nothing. It stood on its perch and watched him. Not attacking, not fleeing, not even making a move. "Pidge, I need an extraction, now! Hurry!" He shouted, not caring that it came out in Galran. The helmets would translate.

He jumped around the room, clutching his wrist to his chest and switching his bayard to the other hand. Each jump left an explosion behind as the Druid attacked with their lightning. All he needed to do was get close enough to negate that ability and he could cut them down … hopefully.

Another canister slide down the ramp and Keith slid right along with it, unable to slow his momentum. The Druid appeared before him and charged up for another blow. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He knew, deep down, that allowing the creature to make eye contact was a really, _really _bad idea. His hand pulsed and he felt the lightning shoot from the Druid. He felt the energy of it as it swirled around him, but didn't connect. He had read the books in the castle about the old ways of the Druids, he had taught himself as much as he could from those texts and he was as prepared as he could possibly be without actual training. He opened his eyes to see a world tinted gold, sparks dancing at the sides of his vision.

The Druid took a step back and Keith raised his bayard. To kill with quintessence was to corrupt your own. He would never do what they did; he would never use his own quintessence to take a life. _That_ was how she had corrupted them. He knew that now, he could feel the truth in the realization and he could feel the confirmation coming from his opponent.

"I knew I should have killed you when I had the chance." It hissed at him, breaking his concentration and letting colour saturate his vision again. The sparks fizzled out and the lightening that had been swirling around him shot out in all directions, exploding the canister behind him.

The quintessence poured down on him and Keith felt the rush of energy, the raw power, and the sheer potential contained within. A sudden rumbling shook the entire room as the Green Lion crashed down behind him, mouth opening wide. _"Get in! We've got to get Shiro and Allura!" _Pidge called through the com and he turned to watch the Druid vanish.

Growling out of pure frustration he rushed into the lion and the massive jaws closed behind him.

* * *

Keith stood in the cargo hold and stared at his hand. When he was little he had wanted nothing more than to be purple like everyone else. He'd wanted to look down and see this colour so badly, and now that it was there – he wanted it gone. He knew it would make the situation with Allura and Shiro worse. Unlike his eyes, which he could change, this would be a constant reminder for them that Keith was Galra. He felt no shame in being Galra, he was actually quite proud of his heritage, but he didn't want to put the others through any more stress.

He clenched his hand into a tight fist, feeling the tips of his claws dig into the flesh, and focused on the burns. A strange tingling sensation sparked across his hand and, opening his eyes, Keith watched the last of the purple fade away.

* * *

The door of the Green Lion's cockpit opened and Shiro walked in. Only Shiro. "Where's Allura?" He asked and felt a wave of pain emanate off his friend.

"Shiro?" Lance pushed and the man's face twisted with guilt.

"She sacrificed herself to save me." He spoke through tightly clenched teeth and though his eyes were squeezed shut, Keith could see the hurt they were hiding.

"So, she's still on that ship?"  
"The ship that's headed to Zarkon's Central Command?" Pidge and Hunk asked respectively.

"The place that's way too dangerous for us to attack?" Keith contributed and regretted it immediately. He saw the way Shiro was reacting, he was clearly blaming himself for this development and pointing out the obvious wasn't helping.

Shiro flinched, but raised his head to meet Keith's eyes; eyes he still hadn't changed back to Human. "It doesn't matter how dangerous it is. We can't let Zarkon get Allura. We don't have a choice anymore."

* * *

The doors to the bridge opened and Shiro launched into leader mode, directing Pidge to locate Central Command. At the sound of his voice, Coran turned expectantly and stilled, before rushing to stand before them.

"What happened? Where's Allura?" He asked in a panic. Keith could hear the concern of a parent in his tone and it made his chest hurt for the man's loss.

"They captured her. She sacrificed herself to save me and the information." Shiro answered, maintaining a firm military tone. Keith saw through it, he knew it was a mask meant to hold himself together, prevent their team leader from fracturing into a thousand little fragments of grief, pain, and guilt. "I didn't have a choice." He finished.

A shocked Coran argued his disbelief. "How is that possible?"

"Coran, I'm sorry things didn't go as planned, but we can't focus on what went wrong. We've got to figure out how to make it right." He explained before turning to face their Green Paladin. "Pidge, anything?"

"Guys, look at this" They answered and pulled up a diagram of Central onto the large primary screens. The team collectively gasped, but Keith had seen this before. He knew what Central looked like, he'd learned all about it in his Blade training, he'd listened to his Uncle Thace's stories, and he'd watched some of the propaganda videos. Not to mention the arena videos from Central that he and Regris would watch. He knew how massive the Emperor's Flag Ship was, he just didn't want to think about it. Allura was screwed, they were all screwed!

"I think we should go in right away." Pidge announced. "Every minute we waste gives Zarkon time to prepare for us."

Lance nodded enthusiastically from behind the Green Paladin chair. "I agree. We form Voltron, fly in, fly out, dust off our hands, and walk away."

"Um, do you guys not remember the Balmera? We could barely take out one fleet. But this - a base this size could hold a thousand fleets!" Hunk worried and Keith nodded.

"Or, maybe we shouldn't go on this mission at all." He cut in and the team turned to look at him in an array of shock, surprise, and hurt. "Think about it. We'll be delivering the universe's only hope to the universe's biggest enemy."

"Keith, that's cold, even for you." Hunk said sadly. "What if it was one of us? What if it was me? You wouldn't leave me, would you? … Would you?"

"I'm not saying I like the idea. I'm just thinking like a paladin."

"No, you're thinking of yourself because you're too scared to do what's right!" Lance cut in.

"Okay, we're all upset because we lost Allura." Pidge interjected, attempting to soothe the rising tension.

Instead, Coran turned to Shiro. "No, SHIRO lost Allura!"

"OKAY! Okay, this isn't helping." Hunk yelled at the group. "We can't just sit here and bicker like this."

"Let's focus. How are we going to get Allura?" Taking the reigns, Shiro directed them back on track, attempting to maintain some level of control and keep the group productive.

They spent vargas going over plans, discussing the best ways to sneak in undetected, all the while Keith shot down every single suggestion. Everything they came up with he already knew the Empire had a counter measure for. Nothing they suggested was original, it had all been tried before. They needed a quiznaking miracle to get past Central's defenses.

Lance turned to him with what he assumed was yet another shitty suggestion. Instead, the Blue Paladin asked for advice. "This organization you're a part of … the Blade of Marmalade?"

"Marmora." He corrected with an amused grin.

"Right, the Blade of Marmora – what would they do in a situation like this?" Everyone turned to him, waiting for a reply he knew they wouldn't like.

"We don't go back for anyone. Under any circumstances." The group collectively gasped and he rolled his eyes. "We can't risk jeopardizing two operatives instead of just one. You either make it to the extraction point on time, or you get left behind."

"Cold." Lance replied and Keith shrugged.

"It's how we survive." Several very tense vargas passed again. The Human members of the team mostly keeping amongst themselves and Keith would be lying if he said it didn't hurt a little. It wasn't until a sudden beeping in his pocket that they seemed to acknowledge his presence with anything other than an uncomfortable glance.

It was Kolivan. He had to answer this, he didn't have a choice; rising from the Red Paladin station, he started for the exit.

"You can answer that here." Coran spoke as if it were a command. Keith deflated, nodding and returning to his seat as the others moved to gather around him.

{ Identify } the female voice commanded.

"Keith Kogane, Operative 2675 – Red Paladin of Voltron" There was a brief tic of silence before the screen flickered to life, revealing Kolivan's masked face. "Leader. We are not alone." He informed the man as quickly as possible.

_"I see that."_ Kolivan's voice was as impassive as ever, his cold and emotionless mask falling on the various faces crowding around Keith. _"Your – friends, were not invited to this meeting."_ Coran sputtered about it being an Altean ship and blah blah blah, Keith was mostly dying under the pressure of what he knew was an thoroughly disapproving glare from his leader.

"Did you need something of me?" He asked, trying to bring the conversation back on track.

_"I have received troubling news and am calling for confirmation. Though as I do not see the Altean Princess' presence I assume the rumours are true and she has, in fact, been captured." _Keith nodded and Lance unwisely chipped in that they were going to free her. _"Is that the case?" _Kolivan asked incredulously and Keith groaned of embarrassment. _"Voltron is either more competent that expected, or more foolish."_

"And what you have us do?" Shiro jumped in without hesitation. "Leave the princess behind? Leave her in Zarkon's hands? The Galra will kill her."

_"Most likely not."_ Kolivan unhelpfully supplied. NOT killing Allura was worse, so much worse. It implied the Emperor had plans for her. _"The Empire will not harm the Altean Princess so long as Voltron remains out of Emperor Zarkon's reach. It is ill-advised to deliver such a weapon directly into his hands."_ Keith nodded along in agreement but received a sharp look from … well, everyone on their side of the com. He rolled his eyes but said nothing.

"With all due respect, I disagree." Shiro responded, yet again resuming his leader tone and asserting his position as the Black Paladin.

_"I can say nothing to dissuade you?" _He was met with headshakes and angry glares from the Humans and single Altean. _"Very well. Voltron is out of my control."_ Shit, Keith new where this was going. Kolivan turned his attention back to him. _"Blade, permission to assist in this fool's errand is denied."_ With that, their communication cut out.

"You're not going to listen to him are you?" Lance asked in the most accusatory tone anyone could muster.

"He's my Leader, I have no choice."

"And we're your team." Shiro countered. "Keith, Voltron needs you; Allura needs you. Without the Red Lion we don't stand a chance."

"You don't understand!" He shouted. "I can't just ignore a direct order, that's not how this works!"

"Shiro – order Keith to help us! Use your special Black Paladin powers!" Hunk called out.

"I already did. Voltron is going to rescue the Princess, and as the Red Paladin, you are a member of this team. Keith I can't force you to do what's right, but please, you need to see reason here. If the situation was reversed, don't you think Allura would be planning your rescue?" He shrank under those words. Shiro was right, she absolutely would risk everything, no matter how dangerous and foolish it was.

He looked around at his team, all of them pleading at him with their eyes. "Fine." He conceded. "Let's go get the princess."


	8. Reconciliation

**RECONCILIATION**

Keith headed down the empty halls, _'Don't you think Allura would be planning your rescue'_ echoing in his head with each step. And yes, he was certain that she would. But was it really _him_ she would rescue, or would she simply be going after their Red Paladin? If he weren't a paladin would she give a shit about him? The easy answer was no, she had made it very clear that they were _not_ friends. So then why did he have to risk his life to save her dumb ass? Simple, it was the right thing to do. Stupid quiznaking Voltron and their stupid quiznaking Paladin Code.

He groaned as he walked the hall. The whole situation was utterly ridiculous. Why couldn't Allura just grow up? "_I'm Allura, I'm a princess. I'll do whatever the quiznak I want, even if it means putting my entire team at risk!" _Keith mocked, raising his voice several octaves and sashaying his hips in an admittedly mean spirited imitation of the princess. She had seemed so reasonable at first; he could even sympathize with why she would be upset. Sure, she'd slapped him and yelled at him and called him names, but then she'd recognized that she needed to calm down and removed herself from the situation. Keith had been incredibly impressed with her maturity … until she started being absolutely horrible to him.

The worst part of this whole thing was that they had gotten along really well. A borderline actual friendship started forming before everything went to shit. He had comforted her over the loss of her father's AI, he had backed her up in her rigid training schedule, he had even sat and listened to her talk about Altea and her people for vargas one night. For her to turn around and treat him like this – he shook his head. These thoughts weren't getting him anywhere. A gentle purr sounded in the back of his mind, telling him they _did _care about him. "I know you do, Red." He spoke out loud once again, not caring if anyone was around to hear him. "I love you too." Red gushed her affection in his mind and he found himself smiling as he made it back to his room. He pulled out his communicator, dreading the impending conversation with every tic that passed as he waited for Kolivan to answer.

{ Identify }

"Keith Kogane, Operative 2675 – Red Paladin of Voltron" After a tic, a familiar stern face appeared.

_"Blade."_

"Leader." They exchanged a curt nod in greeting and Keith cut to the chase. "I have chosen to assist the other Paladins in retrieving the Princess from Emperor Zarkon's Central Command." Silence. Several tics passed before the man on the other end let out a heavy sigh.

_"I expected as much, to be honest."_

"I'm sorry, but I have to do this. Without Allura the Castle of Lions will run out of power eventually and Voltron wont be nearly as effective. We wont be able to wormhole, and we wont have the Castle for backup." Kolivan held up his hand to silence the onslaught of justifications. Believe it or not, he really had weighed it all out before agreeing to help back on the bridge.

_"I do not agree with your decision, but I do understand why you would make it. Are you requesting assistance?"_

"Yes, Leader."

_"Request denied. I gave you a direct order and you have chosen to disregard it. While I can not do anything to stop you, or the other Paladins, I refuse to risk any more of our Operatives."_ Keith nodded in understanding.

"I know Ulaz has returned to the Thaldycon base but do we have anyone else currently stationed on Central?"

_"Yes. I will not divulge who they are, in case of your capture and subsequent torture."_ Keith nodded again.

"I understand."

_"Keith … fail, and you will have made the chances of revolution a near impossibility. Succeed, and you will have hit the Emperor at his own front door, proving to the universe that he IS defeatable." _

"Yes, Sir. I understand."

_"Be careful. Your mother will not be pleased to hear about this."_ Keith paled then chuckled, it was Kolivan who would have to deliver the news to her.

"Yeah, good luck with that." He snickered and was met with a growl.

_"I will contact one of our deep cover Operatives on Central to keep an eye on the Altean Princess. That is all I can offer."_

"I appreciate any support you can give." Kolivan gave a curt nod and disconnected their call, leaving Keith alone in his room yet again. But at least Voltron wouldn't be _completely_ alone. He sighed and got up, grabbing his data pad and heading for Pidge.

* * *

"You gunna stand there all day or are you gunna get your purple butt over here to help?"

"I'm not purple."

"Fine – I retract my previous statement." Pidge cleared their throat and began again. "You gunna stand there all day or are you gunna get your pasty butt over here to help?" They grinned wickedly at him and Keith rolled his eyes, but smirked despite his best efforts otherwise. Pidge was curled over their desk as usual and the Green Lion's hangar was a disaster of tech supplies, equipment, and random parts. He walked further into the room and Rover popped up directly in front of him, blinking in warning. "Down boy." Pidge commanded over their shoulder without shifting focus from the current obsession. The tiny floating drone blinked in recognition before returning to its dormant state at the side of the desk.

He walked over and spun a few of the more gizmo-y, gadget-y things. "Don't touch that!" Was barked at him followed immediately by "Leave it alone!" when he didn't listen and a sharp "KEITH, I'm serious!" after something fell and nearly broke. "Keep your hands to yourself or I'll chop them off!" was the final warning before he took the hint and sat down on Green's paw with a huff.

The first few times he'd climbed and leapt his way onto the Lion's paw Pidge had been shocked and impressed at his agility. However, by this point it would have been more shocking if he had chosen to sit on the floor like a Human. They had gotten used to his more 'alien' behaviours, and it was comfortable to be around the Green Paladin for that reason. Keith felt he could relax here, let his guard down and drop the 'Human' act for a brief time. The Red and Green Lion's hangars had become safe places for him, as had his bedroom and the training deck.

"I did what you asked by the way. I think it helped." Pidge smiled up at him, pulling Keith from his train of thought. "Shiro seems less tense … I think … maybe? It's hard to tell with him sometimes. You should probably still talk to him though."

"I will." He groaned.

"Keith, like – ASAP okay?"

"UGH!" Keith let his arms flop at his side while he glided his way down the side of the Lion as if she were a water slide, landing on the ground with considerably more grace than the others could have managed. "I'll go find him." And with that he left for the lounge. If Shiro was there, then they would talk. If not, then Keith had 8 million other things he needed to do. Plus he super didn't want to talk to Shiro, so best to leave it up to fate. Let the stars make the decision for him.

* * *

"Hey, buddy. Whatcha doin?" Lance peered over his shoulder, attempting to read the data pad in his hands. "What's this gibberish?"

"It's Galran, not gibberish asshole."

"Okay okay, yeesh." Lance replied, throwing his hands in the air as he vaulted the side of the couch to sit next to Keith in the empty lounge.

"I see you're back to speaking English."

"Yeah, it was freaking Hunk out too much to hear my voice translated into Samoan, and Shiro complained about the words not matching my mouth movements. Besides, I can still speak Spanish to Coran since he wont notice the difference any way. And Allura when we get her back." He smiled weakly but Keith could tell something was bothering him. _Not you're problem Kogane!_ He told himself and continued to work on his project for Ms. Proxa, choosing to ignore the Blue Paladin and his complaints.

"Keeeeeeith!" He whined after several silent dobashes. "Come on, talk to meeeee! I'm bored!"

"It's not my job to entertain you, Lance. Go bother Hunk." He dismissed the other with a flippant wave of the hand. But it did nothing to deter the incredibly persistent (and whiney) Cuban boy.

"Hunk's busy." He replied and stared at Keith for a few more tics before groaning and launching into another series of complaints. "Ahh come on! We were getting along so well. We did all that bonding and what not."

"Go bond with Pidge."

Lance leaned across the couch and stole the data pad from his hands. "Whatcha workin' on?"

"WHAT THE FUCK? Lance, give it back!" He screeched, lunging across the distance between them to wrestle his precious history project out of the other's hands.

"Oh, you want this?" Lance asked teasingly and jumped to his feet. Standing on the couch, he used his height advantage to hold the data pad out of Keith's reach. "Come on, Keith. Just grab it." He chuckled and Keith jumped to swipe his tech back but the other had already bounced to a new cushion. He lunged across the gap in the horseshoe couch, hearing Lance yelp at his sudden proximity, but the Cuban was quick and he ran across the seats until he was out of reach again. Those long legs allowing him to get away faster than Keith could grab him.

A frustrated growl escaped his throat as bright laughter scratched at his slowly fading patience. "GIVE IT BACK" he snarled in Galran and the taller boy blanched slightly before shaking it off and bouncing away again. "GIVE IT TO ME!" He yelled, louder this time and the offending party slipped easily into his flirtatious persona.

"I didn't catch that Keith, could you say it again?" He didn't like that tone. Not one bit. But he also didn't really get what was so funny about what he'd said. So he repeated himself, slightly clearer this time.

"I said 'Give it to me', Lance!" Keith was seething and the other boy exploded with a bright laugh, his voice dropping in pitch to stare suggestively through his long lashes.

"You want it?"

"YES! Fucking give it to me already!" Lance practically fell over he was laughing so hard and Keith was utterly baffled, but too annoyed to care about having it explained.

He rammed Lance in the gut with his shoulder, hearing the wind whoosh out of his lungs, and swiped at his feet. The Blue Paladin landed on the couch with a thud before bouncing off and crashing to the floor. The data pad went flying in the air and Keith leapt off the couch, using his superior agility to deftly catch it as he landed steadily on the balls of his feet. Punctuating his landing with a hearty "Go fuck yourself, Lance." The tanned boy groaned on the floor behind him as he returned to his seat on the edge of the couch.

"That was a bit uncalled for don't you think?" Lance protested, struggling to stand back up and catch his breath. Keith ignored him, opting instead to focus on his project once again. "So that's your native language?" Keith nodded once, but still said nothing, continuing to mostly ignore the Human boy. "Are all Galra this obnoxious? Oh wait – we already know the answer to that!" Lance grumbled and the Red Paladin shot a deadly glare in his direction.

"Ugh, KEITH! Come on, dude! I'm so bored!" He groaned again, making more of his excessive sound effects and flopping down on the couch. "What do Galra do for fun?"

"Spar."

"Of fucking course you do!" Keith turned his head from the data pad back to Lance and narrowed his eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he accused.

"Allura said the Galra are an incredibly aggressive species and that even in times of peace you're still violent! Guess she was right." He didn't mean anything by it, Keith knew this, he knew Lance was merely repeating the _bullshit_ that was told to him. But it didn't change the fact that he was now super pissed off. Fucking Allura and her ability to insult him even when she wasn't around. Without a word he shut off his project and walked out of the lounge before he did something he'd regret.

"Keith? Buddy? Where're you going?" The doors closed on Lance's words and Keith took off at a run.

He stormed down the hall, frustration and confusion rolling off him in waves. He needed to clear his head and the tension radiating through his entire body with some quality stress relief. Essentially, he needed to punch something. Hard. Preferably with his blade. _Stars, _he missed having someone worthwhile to spar with.

Keith made his way back to his room and pulled out his Marmora blade, feeling the pulse of life as he held it in his hand. The worst of his tension melted away leaving him with a dull ache in his chest and a rage still simmering just below the surface. He grabbed a towel and made his way to the training deck.

The doors had barely opened when he toss his towel off to the side of the room and called out a series of instructions.

"Resume last training sequence. Keith Kogane." He commanded.

{ Welcome: Red Paladin }  
{ Resuming: Training Level 20 }

He assumed his stance and activated his blade as the droid came down. Keith swung, giving it everything he had, feeling the rage and anger and pain and frustration he'd been holding in flow through his blade as it connected with the droid. Each take down was more ferocious than the last. He ripped his way through the level, earning a perfect score within 3 tries.

"Start training level: 21" He commanded and assumed his stance once again.

"End training sequence." Keith whirled around to face Coran, anger still tingling at his skin. "You need to rest."

"I'm fine." He dismissed, turning back to the deactivated droid. "Resume training level: 21"

"End training sequence. Lockout initiated for Red Paladin. Duration: 20 vargas."

"WHAT?" Keith whirled around faster than before, his grip on the blade tightening in anger.

"You need to rest."

"What I NEED is to deal with the tension that is DRIVING ME CRAZY!" He seethed.

"Training isn't going to solve that. It's only going to tire you out."

"In case you've forgotten, I'm Galra! This is how we deal with stress! So if you don't mind I really, _really_ need to break something!" His fist was shaking at his side and the blade in his other hand was quivering between its awakened and deactivated states.

"I know exactly how the Galra are. But you are not thinking clearly and you are going to hurt yourself."

"You don't care about me, you're just making sure I'm in 'tip-top shape' to rescue fucking Allura!" he shouted back and Coran punched him. Right in the face. Keith stumbled back a bit before letting out a vicious snarl at the Altean. He deactivated his blade, sheathing it behind his back before charging forward, standing mere inches away from the other.

"You do _not_ have the right to speak about the Princess like that."

"Why not? It's how she treats me! I've been nothing but nice to her, I've tried to help and tried to be supportive, and _stars,_ I even tried to understand where she was coming from but FUCK IT! I'm done! I'll get your quiznaking princess back, don't worry. You're big bad Galra paladin will get her stupid ass back for you and you can all just go back to hating me. It's fine!"

"No one hates you, Keith. We were hurt that you would suggest leaving Princess Allura behind, but we certainly don't hate you." Keith huffed and crossed his arms defensively over his chest. "I know for a fact that no one here hates you, not even the Princess." He looked up at Coran with a skeptical look, one eyebrow arched in absolute disbelief. "It's true. Heard her say it with my own two ears."

Keith rolled his eyes. "I don't believe you."

"Suit yourself, my boy. But it's the truth. She felt betrayed and deceived. Allura is very upset, but she doesn't hate you." He didn't respond; he really didn't have anything to say. "Now, get some rest will you? Or at the very least, an cold pack for the swelling I suppose."

He couldn't hold it back and a light chuckle escaped. "You got me pretty good."

"Yes, I've been known to throw a doozy once or twice!" The Altean smiled back at him. "Feeling better?"

"Surprisingly – yeah."

"Ol' Coran knocking some sense into the youth of today!" He smiled broadly and tugged at the collar of his cloak while Keith let out a surprisingly loud bark of laughter. "I've dealt with my fair share of angry Galra in my day! Step 1: Let them hurt something. Step 2: Something hurts them back. Step 3: They scream out their anger. Step 4: Everybody gets along! Fool proof."

He chuckled again. "You could have told me you actually knew what you were doing."

"And risk step 3 not working? I think not!"

"Thanks, Coran. I feel a lot lighter."

"Excellent. Now, run along Number 4 – you really do need to rest." He nodded back and packed up his things, but paused before he reached the doors.

"Did you mean what you said? About Allura not hating me?"

"Of course I did. Wouldn't have said it otherwise." He nodded again and turned to leave.

* * *

"Oh, Keith." Shiro sputtered as they quite literally ran into each other outside the training deck doors.

"Sorry." He mumbled, and shuffled past. A strong grip wrapped around his wrist and pulled him back.

"Listen I, uh, I meant to come find you earlier. I think we should sit down and talk about this. Put everything out there so we can move on and this tension can just …" he made a flailing gesture with his hands above his head and Keith bit back his smile. "Now a good time?"

He shrugged, "As good a time as any." He was actually in a substantially better mood thanks to Coran.

"Great. Come on, I found a meditation room we can use. There's incense sticks and dimmer lighting." The Black Paladin gave a slight nudge to his shoulder and Keith offered a tentative smile, following behind the man as they made their way in silence. Very awkward silence.

The room was small, only slightly larger than the castle's elevator. It was also round and had an array of cushions in various shapes, sizes, and colours spread around. The lighting was certainly dimmer here, a soft feeling enveloping the entire space. Instead of bright blue lights set on stark white walls, like everywhere else in the castle, this room had a single recessed light on the ceiling with a large pink shade hanging below it. The result was a warm rose glow cast over everything it reached, fading as it descended towards the cushions. The effect was reminiscent of a setting sun shining overhead. The walls were painted in a faded gradient from pale pink at the ceiling down to lavender at the floor, instead the clinical white and shining blue the rest of the castle boasted. The room felt different, separate, and unique from the others: special.

He took a seat on one of the larger cushions, feeling his body relax into the softness. For the first time since they left Earth he was actually comfortable. This room was so similar to the meditation rooms back on their bases that there was no way it hadn't been designed by a Galra, or at the very least _for_ a Galra. Emperor Zarkon had been a Paladin at one point after all. A cursory look at the command panel (entirely in Galran) confirmed his suspicion.

"This is my favourite room in the castle. It just feels so much warmer and more comfortable than anywhere else. It's hard to explain." Shiro spoke with a reverent tone, sitting himself in one of the pillow piles and pulling out a drawer from behind a hidden panel. "Do you want some tea?" He held up a packet between his fingers and Keith shifted his eyes back to their natural state in order to read it. The change was immediate, as the room grew instantly brighter and warmer. The true colour of the walls dulled and became even softer, the gradients blending into each other more seamlessly than they did with his colour sensitive Human eyes.

Shiro's breath caught but he didn't otherwise react, which Keith took as progress. He read the packet the other man was holding and scrunched up his nose. "Not that one." He replied, mild disgust lacing his tone. "Are there other options?" Reluctantly, Keith moved from his pillow to scoot across the room and move closer to Shiro, looking into the drawer and pawing through the various tea options, reading the packets and tossing several aside. "Gross – ugh horrible – gross – gross – not bad – allergic – ooo this one's good – this one too – gross – Altean – not bad – OOOO THIS ONE!"

The sudden change in volume caused Shiro to flinch, and Keith realized he was still on edge, not really as comfortable as he was letting on. "Ok, we'll try that one then." The Black Paladin said with a soft smile and added the packet of leaves to the contraption in the middle of the room. Keith stared at it; he'd never seen anything like that before and the clearly Altean design felt out of place in the more Galran setting.

In the mediation rooms on base there were large metal pots in the centres, something the Humans would have called a caldron. Under the pot was a small fire surrounded by heat resistant edging to prevent the pillows from catching fire. It was typical to fill the pot with water, tealeaves, and flower pedals, using a ladle to scoop portions for each of the room's occupants, while placing special incense sticks into the fire. The sticks would give off a rich and spicy scent, filling the room in a thick smoke that diffused the already dim light and made you feel as though you were alone, regardless of how many others occupied the small space.

The 'thing' Shiro placed their tea leaves in made a bubbling sound and a thick fog came out, blanketing the room in the scent of the tea. It was nice, not quite as relaxing as a real Galran mediation room, but still nice. A blue light cut the haze and a chime sounded to notify them that their tea was ready. It broke the stillness of the room and he glared at the offending intrusion.

Shiro chuckled beside him and filled his mug with the piping hot tea. _It shouldn't be this hot,_ he thought as he cupped the drink in his hands and immediately hissed at the radiating heat burning the palms of his hands. Keith placed the tea on a section of floor beside his pillow and scowled at it. "Everything alright?" Shiro asked with an arched brow.

"Too hot." He shrugged back. Shiro nodded and settled into the pillows with his own drink cradled in his hands and took a tentative sip, breathing in the heavy steam and sighing as he exhaled. Keith watched him, it was the most relaxed he'd seen the man since – well, since before Kerberos. "What did you want to talk to me about?" He asked after several dobashes of comfortable silence. His tea was now cooled enough that he could take a few careful sips.

"Pidge dropped off your communicator and I had a lovely chat with an old friend. Thank you, for that." Keith shrugged off the comment but smiled into his tea nonetheless. "I mean it, it meant a lot to see Matt alive and well. I'm sorry for the way I reacted to your – I hate to use the word reveal but that's kind of what it was."

"Coming out?" Keith joked and smirked up at the other. Shiro snorted in response.

"Yeah, that too I guess." The older man looked down into this swirling tea, seeming to contemplate what to say next, or building the courage to say what he'd already decided on. Whichever it was, it didn't last much longer. Shiro found his voice and Keith lost his. "I'm sorry. I know I didn't handle it very well, but … it was difficult for me. I've really been struggling with trying to remember everything that happened while I was … uh, a prisoner, and it made it easier to deal with if I assumed all Galra were evil. It made it easier to swallow why they would do that, how they could just sit back and let those things happen. They took my arm, they forced me to fight, to kill, and I just - " he looked down into the depths of his tea once again as he mumbled the rest of his confession. "It was easier to handle if they weren't people."

Keith let out a long breath and stared at his former mentor, his Black Paladin, his brother. "Shiro? I can't say I know what you're going through, I've never been taken captive before, but I know what it's like to fear the Empire and what they're capable of. Especially the Druids." Shiro nodded along and they talked, for vargas. Shiro opened up about what he remembered from his time on Central Command, Keith relayed some of the more gruesome details he knew about (only after Shiro pried them out of him), and they talked about their respective cultures. The subject of Allura came up, and Shiro shared some of the hurtful things she'd said when Keith wasn't in earshot.

It had been cathartic for both of them. Shiro seemed to be on the same page as Coran, believing the princess didn't hate him but rather she felt betrayed and just needed some time. Keith still felt she could have handled it better and he hadn't yet forgiven her.

They stayed in the meditation room for quite awhile, the conversation naturally drifting to Matt and what he and Shiro had talked about earlier that quintant. The communications expert allegedly accused Shiro of being a certified dumbass, a complete bonehead, and a stubborn old man. Keith snorted at the titles but gasped in betrayal when he learned he'd been referred to as a piss poor Human, Mork, and Space Bourne. Ok, so that last one was actually pretty cool and he didn't hate it, but it was the principle of the matter. Matt had gone into detail about his escape and Keith filled in the gaps surrounding Shiro's. He also had to explain how me met Te-Osh, which led into him being referred to as a child soldier by Shiro and being pulled into a tight hug.

The hug had broken up with a gasp as the Black Paladin realized he'd made the same cultural faux pas as Allura and Keith had to reassure him that this time it was different. He considered Shiro family and therefore it was acceptable. That had led into another bone crushing hug that the Red Paladin protested vehemently while secretly reveling in the contact. It had been so long since he'd had any physical contact and he craved it.

It wasn't until Keith stomach made a very loud rumble that they realized neither of them had eaten. Shiro opted to stay in the meditation room, pouring himself another mug of tea and flopping over onto the rest of the cushions. Keith waved and headed for the kitchen, deciding to bring a bowl of goo back for the man. The weight in his chest lighter than it had been in quite some time.

* * *

The food goo dispenser gave a sputter as he switched it from the terrible green plant goo to the substantially better orange goo. This one was a mix of starches and meat, with better seasonings to boot. Because the nozzles were all labelled in Altean, only Allura, Coran, and Keith knew there was more than just the green goo. And since Alteans are vegetarian, they hadn't thought to mention the other option. But Keith had spotted it the first time he entered the kitchen. He also noticed that the holding tank was nearly empty. Split between all five paladins that tank would last _maybe_ a phoeb or two. Keith had elected to keep it a secret. Humans can survive on a vegetarian diet, but Galra cannot. He continued to eat the green goo with everyone else, while stuffing his face full of the orange goo in private. Was it wrong? Probably. Did he care? Nope!

Footsteps came down the hall and he focused his hearing on them. They echoed in the empty corridor, each footfall coming louder than the last; heavy and distinct, letting him know it was Hunk drawing closer. He shoveled the goo into his face as fast as possible, licking the bowl clean to hide the orange evidence. And immediately refilled it with a splash of the green goo, taking a spoonful as the Yellow Paladin entered the room.

"Oh, uh, hey man. Didn't know you'd be in here. I can um, go if you want." He said nervously, a hand reaching behind his head to rub at his neck.

"Why would I want you to go, Hunk?" Keith asked, genuinely confused.

"Well you just, I don't know – you seem like you wanna be alone or something." The larger boy shifted his weight uncomfortably and Keith watched him. He watched as the expression on his face became increasingly more uncomfortable, he watched as the large hands began to fidget at his sides, and he watched as brown eyes darted around the room nervously.

"Hunk, I'm gunna be honest with you, I'm absolutely shit at reading Human expressions and emotions. If you have something you wanna say to me, just say it." He crossed his arms and leaned his weight against the edge of the counter. "Cause if you don't, I'm never gunna figure it out."

"I – well – um." He sputtered and shifted, nerves taking control of his communication skills. Keith's patience was waning.

"Spit it out, Hunk." He commanded and the other boy flinched.

"Ok, so um, do you – like, not actually like us? Cause, you know, I thought we were friends and all."

"So did I." He replied, cocking a brow and putting the bowl down on the counter. "Did that change?"

"Friends rescue friends, Keith." _Ouch_.

"Hmm." He hummed dismissively and moved the bowl to the sink. "Allura made it clear she's not my friend."

"She was surprised, we all were. She'll come around." Keith rolled his eyes. It didn't matter if she 'came around', what mattered was that she had been so horrible; she didn't even give him a chance. In fact, the more he thought about it, the angrier he became. This must have shown on his face because the kind-hearted Yellow Paladin was backing away from him. Or maybe it was the eyes he kept forgetting to change back.

"I suppose I'm going to have to be the one to apologize right? I'll have to help you guys get her back, and then I'll have to say I'm sorry for existing. Because this whole thing is really _my_ fault for being born Galra." He shot Hunk an indignant look, daring the other to agree.

"Okay, yeah, when you put it that way it sounds silly. But -"

"No 'but' at all. Do you think it's easy for me to be here? To put up with the way Allura has started treating me? The way she looks at me? And you guys aren't any better. You've been skirting around me for the past two quintants, Lance is being extra … _Lance_, and Shiro – well I hadn't seen much of Shiro until a few vargas ago, and that said enough on its own." He took a deep breath and met those warm chocolate eyes, so full of fear and worry that a part of him wanted to squeeze the big cuddly bear and tell him everything was fine, he didn't mean to yell! But that was counterproductive; Hunk needed to move past this just as much as everyone else. And since that seemed to be the theme of the day so far, why not finish it off with one more.

"One of the hardest things I've ever had to do was sit back and take it. All the hate and anger that Allura's been dumping on me – I hate it. It hurts. You know nothing about my culture or my people – all you know is what Allura has told you, and she's made damn sure to paint the Galra as pure evil. We aren't! We aren't evil, we aren't monsters or beasts; we're just people! People how have been lied to by our leader, and force fed propaganda for ten thousand deca-phoebs." Keith was aware that he was starting to yell; Hunk's wide eyes were a sure sign that this was maybe getting a little out of hand. So he reeled in his emotions, pulled back everything that was bubbling below the surface, just itching to get out, and took a deep breath. He was locked out of the training deck already and wouldn't have an outlet if he got himself worked up.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I just – it isn't easy for me to be here. Our Emperor destroyed Altea, he hunted down and killed their entire species, and now I'm standing in the Castle of Lions eating Altean food goo and flying Altean ships under the command of the Altean Princess. It's all so very – I don't actually know an Earth example. Sorry."

"Hey, hey man! It's ok. I didn't even think about what you were feeling. Lance mentioned that you were having a hard time but I don't know, I just figured he was being dramatic, you know? You just always seemed so – capable." Hunk replied, his nerves seemed to be calming but there was still something between them, something weighing on the room. Keith wasn't a politician; he wasn't trained to handle people or their culture or their feelings and this entire situation now had _him_ very uncomfortable.

"I'm a highly trained operative, it was my _job_ to be capable." Keith mumbled back to him, suddenly finding great interest in his feet. "Back on Earth I had Nadia and Ina. Here I have Pidge kinda, they aren't really that great at emotional support, you know? But I just, I've felt very cut off and alone. You guys all have each other, you're all Human, and sure my dad was Human but culturally speaking; I'm not, like not at all! It's very isolating, especially with Allura hating me."

"Allura doesn't hate you. You just need to give her time to accept the fact that you're Galra, the race that destroyed her entire planet and all of her people." Hunk frowned and blinked in surprise at his revelation. "Yeah, she might hate you a little bit."

Keith burst out laughing, the relief hitting him like a train. "Thanks for validating my fears, Hunk. You're a good friend." He choked as he doubled over, watching the big teddy bear gape back in confusion. "It's nice to know I'm not the only one who thinks that."

"Uhhh, you're welcome?" Hunk's eyes darted from side to side, taken aback by the abrupt change in tone.

_"Paladins! Everyone to the bridge STAT!"_ Coran's voice boomed over the intercom and the two boys shared a confused shrug. Keith filled a bowl with green goo, fully intent on shoveling into Shiro's mouth himself if the man didn't eat something, and followed the Yellow Paladin out of the kitchen.


	9. Fool's Errand

**FOOL'S ERRAND**

"I'm fine."

"No you aren't. Just eat it, Shiro." Keith argued for the last time. If the stubborn Black Paladin didn't take a bite soon, Keith was going to tackle him and force the goo down his throat. Luckily for Shiro, he took the bowl and a few small spoonfuls as the last of their crew filed in, Pidge glared angrily above their laptop while they stalked onto the bridge, still typing away. "What's this about?" They grumbled.

Resuming his rigid stance, Shiro stood tall beside Coran. "Everyone, eyes front, we've got a plan to get Allura. We're going to jump to the heart of the enemy, unseen and undetected." _Oh Quiznak!_ If he had known the only two adults on this ship would come up with the worst plan imaginable, he would have insisted on joining them for their discussion.

"I thought we needed Allura to open up a wormhole?" Pidge questioned, and this time it was Coran who responded.

"It's true that Allura powers the Castle's ability to travel through wormholes. However, I think we have enough of her residual essence stored in the system to make one jump."

Keith huffed out a short breath and rolled his eyes. "So basically, we can pop up at Central but we have no way of escaping unless we manage to get Allura back? Super." He clarified, garnering a scowl from Coran and a nervous groan from Hunk.

The Altean turned back to the controls, pulling up a map of Central Command's configuration. "We can hide the Castle here, -" a planet off to the left side of the map was highlighted, "- inside one of these giant gas planets in Zarkon's Command System. The gas is so dense we'll be hidden."

"From there, we'll use the Castle to scan for Allura on Zarkon's ship and attack before Zarkon knows what hit him." Shiro elaborated.

"There's only one hiccup. As Keith mentioned, we have enough energy to wormhole in, but without Allura, we won't have enough energy to wormhole out." Coran's face fell as he thought about the prospect of not succeeding, of entering straight into the Emperor's Command fleet and failing, handing over Voltron into the waiting hands of a tyrant. Keith swallowed the heavy lump in his throat; this was exactly why he had been against a rescue mission in the first place.

"It doesn't matter. We're not leaving without her." Shiro's words were meant to be a comfort but all they did was make Keith more nervous. They really did plan on risking _everything_ for her. "Paladin's you have one hour before we create the wormhole. Get something to eat, go to the bathroom if you must, and put on your armor. We're getting our Princess back!"

Keith sat in the Red Paladin chair as the wormhole opened up. He knew the moment they exited by the gasps around him. Glancing up, he saw the Emperor's Central Command for the first time; it was breath taking. In the centre was the Command flagship, surrounded by a deactivated barrier ring, surrounded by another deactivated barrier ring, which was surrounded by yet another deactivated barrier ring, all housed within a deactivated barrier ring. Coran was right, without a wormhole there was no way they were escaping. There was also no way they should have arrived. The Emperor had to know they were coming, and since they were being met with absolutely zero resistance, this was clearly a trap. His gut sang its agreement and Keith knew this was going to be a fight unlike any they had ever attempted.

"We're here." Shiro observed and Coran immediately got to work on his station, searching for the Princess. Each of the Paladins unbuckled from their seats and made their way to the front of the bridge, staring at the images on the screens. Keith watched Coran work, reading the Altean words as the man typed on his console until at last, a match was found.

"I'm detecting Allura's energy signature. From this distance, the signal's pretty weak, but she's somewhere inside Zarkon's main ship." The Altean explained to the others.

"Gives us a starting point." Keith commented as he took note of the 'suggested location' of the Princess according to the Altean scanners. 'Somewhere inside' looked a whole lot more like 'right in the middle' and he groaned.

"Once we get closer, we'll be able to narrow down the location where the Princess is being held."

"Okay guys, this is it." Shiro pulled the groups attention, their Black Paladin preparing them all for the battle they were about to face, his best 'leader' voice on full display. "Voltron is going to come in fast and without warning. We'll smash our way into Zarkon's ship and grab the Princess. Before they know what hit them, we'll have the Princess and be on our way."

"I love your optimism, but if you think it's going to be that easy you're kidding yourself." Keith interjected, arms crossed over his chest and facing the responding glares head on. "Look, I don't mean to crush everyone's spirit but _come on_, do you really think it's going to be as easy as that? This is _Central quiznaking Command_ we're talking about. Why haven't we met any resistance? Why haven't we been hailed? Why aren't any of the solar barriers activated? This is a trap! How can you not see that?!" he was practically yelling by the end of his rant, arms flown wide in exasperation.

"Keith, we're going. Trap or not." Shiro commanded and he rolled his eyes.

"I know. I already agreed to help, and I'm not going back on that, it's just – I want to make sure we cover all of our bases. We aren't going into some random ship; this is Central. It won't be easy and we _don't_ have the element of surprise like you think we do!"

"Then what do you suggest?"

"We need to split up. We shouldn't go in as Voltron. We go in our separate Lions and we work collectively to keep the Black Lion as far away from the Emperor as possible! Shiro, I'm dead serious about this – DO NOT go anywhere near Emperor Zarkon. You need to keep Black away! Let the rest of us handle him."

"Keith is right." Coran backed him up. "The Black lion is the head of Voltron; Zarkon cannot be allowed to acquire it!" Keith stared at him, baffled. They were about to face the Emperor head-on and he _still_ wouldn't tell them all that he was the original Black Paladin? Keith shook his head.

In the end, they didn't listen to him. They never did. The team formed Voltron with a reluctant Red Paladin and prepared to go in guns blazing. As predicted, the solar barrier activated the moment they left the protection of the gas planet's atmosphere.

_"What is that?"_ Hunk panicked over their coms as the barrier sealed around them, effectively trapping them all inside the perimeter of Central Command.

_"I don't know, but I hope once we get the Princess, we can find a way out of here."_ Pidge contributed and Keith rolled his eyes. An entire fleet of cruisers appeared before them, each ship likely housing its own fleet of fighter pods inside. They were hopelessly out numbered. _"They're going to fire!"_ Pidge called out just in time for the armada to open fire.

Ion cannon after ion cannon blasted around them and Voltron pulled on the speed and agility of Red to dodge their blasts. On Shiro's command Keith formed their sword with his bayard and Voltron cut through several cruisers like butter.

_"More trouble, straight ahead!"_ Lance called and a fresh wave of ships opened fire.

Shiro gave another command and Yellow's shoulder cannon formed, a powerful blast obliterating their opponents. Keith formed their sword once again and Voltron tucked, rolled, and swerved around the debris. Sword drawn, they charged for the Emperor's flagship and Keith had a swell of hope that they could actually pull this off. After all, they were a far cry from the teens that came screaming through a wormhole to arrive on Arus. Though it didn't take long before his gut was twisting in warning and the image of the Emperor flashed in his mind as their sword disappeared.

_"WHAT'S GOING ON?"_ Hunk cried, fear and worry lacing every syllable.

"We lost the sword!" He replied, equally panicked. "Something's malfunctioning!"

A worried _"What's happening?"_ sounded in their coms as Coran watched them from the Castle's bridge.

_"Somebody do something! Voltron's frozen up!" _Lance commanded. But Keith knew what the problem was. It was the Emperor. Zarkon was trying to take back the Black Lion.

"Shiro!" he called over the coms to the only person who could stop this.

Shiro's voice sounded shaky and strained as he fought against the quintessence fuelled former paladin. _"I can't hold it!"_ came from his line followed by a series of grunts and the sickening presence of the corrupted Emperor. Keith didn't know if the others could feel him or not, he was the Red Paladin; Voltron's right hand, and that gave him a special connection to Black that the others didn't possess. He was also quintessence sensitive.

The presence became overwhelming and he felt himself being literally torn away from the others as a malevolent force pried them all apart. Keith knew the moment Voltron had disbanded, he felt the bond to his fellow paladins snapping as they were separated into their lions and the sickening darkness of the Emperor's twisted quintessence blocked his limited connection to Black.

Instantly, the fleet they had faced before showed its true size as cruiser after cruiser appeared around them and the barriers released tens of thousands of fighters into the mix. The lions jumped into battle, taking out the ships and pods with relative ease. After several dobashes the Castle opened fire, joining the frenzy of the attack and backing up the scattered paladins. It wasn't until Keith heard a particularly pained groan through the coms that he realized one of the lions was missing in action.

"Shiro, are you ok?" he called out and was met with even more grunts and groans from their struggling leader.

_"Something is overriding the controls! My lion is not responding!"_ Shiro's words were cut off with a pained scream.

"Shiro's in trouble! I'm going in!" without a second thought, he rushed his lion towards the Emperor's flagship; towards Shiro. He knew in his gut that he needed to get the Black Lion as far away from the Emperor as possible, no matter what. En route he watched as Shiro was ejected from the mouth of Black, a bright magenta glow surrounding the lion and growing stronger as the Emperor assumed control.

Keith heard the others talking, he heard Hunk freak out and Shiro make commands, but he wasn't listening, not really. He flew with determination, the single-minded drive the Galra were known for pushing him to his destination and propelling him to his limits. Keith dodged attacks, blasts, and fighters, he flew circles around the pods that tried to catch him, and he blasted anything that popped up in his way. Nothing could stop him from achieving his goal, nothing.

Keith trusted in his gut to guide him, letting his instincts fully take over. He commanded the others to proceed without him and rammed head first into the Black Lion at full speed, knocking it out of the Emperor's control. He watched as Black crashed against the side of the Central Command flagship. Without his Paladin, the lion took a hard fall. Red spun around in an instant, Keith guiding her to carefully retrieve her brother with the intention of returning Black to the Castle before heading back out to assist the others. He didn't make it that far; an imposing form landed in front of the crumpled lion and squared off against an advancing Red.

_"IT'S ZARKON!"_ Coran's voice called over the coms. _"Keith, get out of there, now! Zarkon's too powerful!" _

"This is my chance to put an end to his Empire! I have to take it!"

_"KEITH! DON'T_!" Coran pleaded, but Keith wasn't listening anymore. He flew towards the Emperor, firing Red's mouth cannon at the monster before him and when the smoke cleared, nothing had changed.

Emperor Zarkon stood tall amongst the debris, a powerful shield protecting him from the Lion's blast. _"You may have a lion, but its power is weak in your fledgling hands."_ His rumbly voice sounded through the coms and Keith realized with a shudder that he was using the Paladin lines. His shield morphed into an energy sword and the force of its blow sent Red tumbling.

Alarms blared around him but Keith tuned them out, his focus was on the battle before him and nothing would pull him away; he was going to beat the Emperor once and for all or he was going to die trying.

_"You cannot stop me. The Black Lion will finally be returned to its original Paladin."_

"You're no Paladin!" He sneered back in his native Galran, tightening his grip on the controls and letting out another powerful blast from Red's mouth cannon. One the Emperor easily blocked yet again, his sword swiftly reforming the shield. It was as if he had a single weapon that could take multiple forms depending on what its wielder required. _The Black Bayard!_ Realization hit like a ton of bricks and Keith felt his stomach drop. The former Black Paladin had ten thousand deca-phoebs to perfect his usage of the bayard. It didn't matter how powerful he was, Keith had Red. And nothing, **nothing**, was more powerful than a Voltron Lion, even if he was still just a newly minted paladin.

He landed hard on the surface of the ship and took off at a run, Red proving to be just as fast on her feet as she was in flight. He charged, throwing shot after shot at the Emperor, dodging blasts that were too powerful for Red's armour, and countering with increasingly more powerful blasts until Red's mouth cannon was at its maximum output. They took a hard hit that sent Red tumbling across the surface of the ship. His sharp reflexes allowed him to right the lion and blast away tics before another attack landed where they had just been, Red responding to his commands without question.

_"Keith, get out of there!" _Coran's worried voice echoed over his coms amidst the cacophony of alarms ringing around him in Red's cockpit. He jumped sharply to the right just in time to avoid a devastating blow and felt the Command ship shudder under the impact. _"Keith, do you copy? You don't know what you're dealing with! He – he's too powerful! Listen to me, it's imperative that you don't engage the -"_ Keith cut the com. He'd had enough, it was time to focus, he gave everything he had to the moment, letting the distractions fall away as he activated Red's jaw blade and made a mad dash for the Emperor once again.

The black bayard formed a chain like sword and the Emperor whipped it out at him. Keith dodged it, swiftly evading to the right, then again to the left as it changed direction. Each time the chain was thrust at him he flew away in the nick of time; quick reflexes and a deep trust in his instincts guiding his actions. It was as if they were dancing, every blow the Emperor threw, Keith had a counter for. Dodging and weaving and evading the weapon with surprising grace and agility. He praised Red and she gushed that it was all him, his skills as a pilot, his natural talents. Alas, he could only evade for so long before the chain wrapped around Red's left hind leg and slammed them into the side of the ship. More alarms blared around him.

His screen flickered, but the Emperor was advancing once again. "Noo." He groaned and focused his energy on Red; he needed to do something, anything! He felt her deep in his soul, their connection solidifying into a bond unlike anything he had ever felt. They were connected on a level none of the others had managed and he felt Red not only in his mind, but all around him. Her rail gun formed and sent a powerful blast, one that channeled all of Keith's rage and drive and frustration directly into the heart of the charging monster before him. With a loud grunt he knocked the other off his feet, the deflected blast tearing a hole in the surrounding structures.

"Whoa!" Keith breathed, taking in the damage the single shot had managed. Rising into the air, he let out another powerful blast of the rail gun, following the Emperor across the surface of the ship as he flew away from the attack. But Keith didn't let up; he doubled down and let the beam carve a path of carnage through the haul.

_"You fight like a Galra soldier."_ The deep voice praised. _"But not for long!" _A terrifying new form emerged from the bayard and it slammed Red down against the ship. This time she wasn't getting up.

He fought with the controls, pleading with Red to come back, but it was all in vain, her reserves were completely drained and the last hit had been enough to take her out of the fight. There was nothing left to do but watch as the glowing sword grew closer and closer.

A blinding blue light took out his opponent, shooting the unsuspecting Emperor into the metal surface and the smoke cleared to reveal a reawakened Black. _"I got you, buddy!"_ came over his coms and Shiro's smooth voice sent a flood of relief through him as they flew towards the Castle.

Now that he was no longer engaged in battle, Keith took a cursory look around the cockpit, there was nothing happening. All of the Lion's power was gone and not even the screens would activate. Red was in bad shape, but at least they were heading out of there. Any minute now Allura would be creating the wormhole to safety.

_"Hello? What's going on? I don't see a wormhole." _ Hunk panicked.

_"The Galra's barrier is jamming our ability to create one!"_ Coran replied. _"They have us completely surrounded."_ And, as if by magic, the solar barrier deactivated with his words.

_"What just happened?"  
"Who Cares? WORMHOLE!"_ Pidge and Hunk commented as the Princess facilitated their exit to safety. A quiet beep sounded at his hip and Keith pulled out his Blade communicator.

{ Stay safe, nephew } the Galran words displayed on the tiny screen made his breath catch and he felt a pang in his chest. It was no miracle that saved them, it was his Uncle Thace. The Emperor would investigate this, he would send his witch to find who had lowered the barriers and she would catch him, then she would make the man suffer greatly. Keith felt the tears threatening to well up in his eyes but he blinked them back. His Uncle needed an extraction, one much more subtle than this botched attempt.

{ Operative 1894 potentially compromised. Operative 2675 requesting their immediate extraction } He sent the message off to Kolivan, praying to the Ancients that the Blade of Marmora intervened quickly enough.

As he watched the message send, a sickening feeling washed over him. He felt the nausea that typically accompanied an encounter with a Druid as it clenched in his gut, only this time it was significantly stronger. So strong that there was no way it was a single Druid, not even the witch herself could feel this powerful. He couldn't see anything on his screens, but he could _feel_ it screaming closer. Closing his eyes, Keith focused his energy on the poison gaining on them and felt it envelop the Castle as they entered the wormhole.

He could hear its intentions, to split them up, to trap them apart from one another, and to destroy those who remained in the tunnel of warped space-time. Keith panicked, he needed to do something before they were separated and he needed to do it quickly. He felt his hand instinctively reach for the shard of the Balmeran crystal he kept with him and tighten painfully around it. Using the quintessence of the crystal, he focused his own abilities on redirecting the invading power, pulling its toxic energy into himself and directing it to the confines of the shard. It took every ounce of energy he had, every fibre of his being, but he managed. Trapping the corrupted quintessence inside the shattered remains of the Castle's former crystal before his entire world went dark.

* * *

A loud banging echoed through his lion and Keith groaned at the offending sound. He rose to his feet with a grunt and a slight waver, steadying himself against the pilot's chair and realizing he'd been unconscious. The pounding in his head pulled him quickly back to reality and, as if reading his mind, Red dimmed the lighting in both the cockpit and her hangar.

_"Woah guys, did it just get darker in here?"_ He heard Hunk worry from outside the lion, imagining the big guy nervously darting his head around the hangar. Keith let out a light chuckled and steadied himself on the controls this time.

_"Keith, come out of the Lion this instant."_ Ughhh, Allura was back. Wonderful. He groaned even louder this time and brushed off Red's scolding.

"Yeah yeah, I'll play nice" he assured her and the Lion purred in response. "But I'm not doing a damn thing until she apologizes." To his great surprise, Red agreed. And so, Keith walked out into the hangar.

"KEITH!" Came Lance's concerned shout from directly beside the ramp and Keith winced, his hand flying to his temples to press against the throbbing sensation that was growing steadily stronger. "How are you? Is everything ok? Talk to us, buddy! What happened in there?" the assault of questions made the young Blade glare with a level of hate he reserved strictly for the Emperor himself.

"Man, your Lion was glowing, _glowing!_ They're not supposed to do that right? Right?" Hunk asked nervously and the princess assured him that no, the Lions weren't supposed to glow. "So then, like, how were you glowing? It was a weird purple / pink colour but also, like, black at the same time. Then, then it went like, bright red and then everything stopped glowing and you weren't responding to us and your lion wasn't responding to us and we couldn't get a visual on you and we couldn't tell if you were ok and we didn't know what was going on and we were so worried and you didn't say _anything_ and then like, Shiro dropped off Red and she just kinda sat there and then we called for you but still nothing and we tried to get in the lion but she wouldn't let us and we tried to call you again but you didn't respond and then finally you did!" Keith blinked as the Yellow Paladin took a few gasping breaths.

"Ok, that was a lot to process." He looked around the hangar, Shiro and Lance had come to either side and were helping him down the last few steps of the ramp, Hunk was standing in front of him a few feet away, Pidge was beside Hunk with an uncharacteristically worried expression, and Coran was standing protectively close to Allura. Allura – right, the Princess was back. He looked at her and their eyes locked, hers narrowing slightly before looking away. Keith rolled his own. "I'm fine, I just need to sleep. I'm going to my room." He sloughed off the help and made his way towards the hangar door on shaky legs.

"Don't be ridiculous, you are clearly in need of a pod. Lance, assist Keith to the medbay and Coran, prepare a pod." A joint 'yes princess' sounded and suddenly warm tan hands were grabbing at his shoulders. Keith shook them off, further insisting that he was fine before promptly proving himself wrong and passing out.

* * *

"Are you sure it wasn't just a dream?" He faintly heard Pidge say.

"I'm positive. I've spent a lot of time in the Castle's meditation room and I've seen this same thing in my dreams over and over. Keith even confirmed it. Check again Pidge, please." The pod hissed open as Shiro finished talking and Keith took a stumbling step forward in time to hear Allura speak, her voice laced with anger.

"And you're sure they were Galra? You know you cannot trust them." She said with the level of distinction only a child can boast while claiming to have seen a monster under their bed.

"Your father must have trusted them once" Shiro responded with the hint of frustration tickling his words. "Zarkon was the original Black Paladin, wasn't he?"

"That was a long time ago."

"Wait, what?" Lance cut in, utterly baffled by the incredibly important information the Princess had chosen to withhold.

"Didn't you see how he stole the Black Lion right out from Shiro?" Keith said, finally speaking up as he leaned against the side of the pod for support. "Or that he could do all that cool stuff with his bayard? _Shiro's_ bayard! You know, the back one!" The room turned in surprise to him, not having noticed the pod opening.

"Ahh Number 4, you're looking better!" He nodded at Coran's words but his focus remained on the pair in front of him, still locked in a heavy staring contest. Shiro matched Allura's gaze with the same intensity and eventually she backed down, lowering her eyes to glare at her feet instead.

Shiro finally spoke, his voice an accusation. "Why didn't you just tell us the truth about Zarkon?"

"I wanted to protect you from the dark history of the paladins so that you would have a chance to bond with your lions on your own. You are the Black Paladin now, not Zarkon."

"Yeah, well, the Black Lion may have a different take on the matter." Shiro responded, a distant hurt hiding in his voice. Keith made his way over to the group and placed his hand on Shiro's shoulder, giving a slight squeeze in the way that Humans seemed to like. The other looked up at him with a soft smile.

"Wait a minute, I think I see it now, some repeating numbers in all this Galra code. Let me extract it." Pidge spoke, typing on their laptop with a pleased grin. Keith looked over their shoulder, edging past Shiro to get a better look.

With a gasp, he realized what he was looking at. "They're coordinates. They lead to one of our bases; the one in the Thaldycon system to be exact."

"Wait wait, why does that name ring a bell?" Hunk asked, his hand moving to cup his jaw as he struggled to pull up a memory. Keith quirked a brow, how could a space station light years away from Earth possibly sound familiar? "OH – OH! Keith, isn't that where you're from?" He stared at the larger boy in absolute shock. All eyes, _all of them_, settled on Keith and he stood frozen, unable to respond. "Yeah, I remember now, we had to do this totally cool project about aliens for Professor Harrison's class. You came in this badass suit and mask, spoke a weird language, claimed you were Keith of the Marmora, and said that you came from the Thalcon system!" Hunk was beaming, clearly proud of himself for remembering and Keith was mentally hearing his father shout 'I told you so' at him.

"Thaldycon." Was somehow the only thing he managed to say.

"Then that's where we're headed." Shiro said with finality and Keith internally groaned.

Based on the expressions around him, he assumed the groan had been less internal and more external – he groaned again for good measure. "Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked, torn between wanting to go back to a familiar location while simultaneously being terrified to face the wrath of Ms Proxa for not handing in his last 3 assignments.

"It's worth the risk. If we can locate allies in our fight against Zarkon, especially ones from his own side, we might just find a way to take him down."

"We aren't on his side." Keith deadpanned.

"I meant allies who are Galra."

"But you _said_ 'on his own side' – which we are not."

"You're right, Keith. I'm sorry." He gave Shiro a curt nod and grunt combo, acknowledging the other's correction and moving on from the blunder. This was the end of it; he was not going to tolerate the way they talked any longer. If that meant being a little harsh at times, then so be it.

"We can check the location, but I do not like this." Allura interjected.

"Of course you don't." He muttered under his breath with an eye roll, fully aware the Alteans would be able to hear him.

* * *

Keith sliced his way through the gladiator, frustration rippling off him in waves.

{ Training Level 21: Completed }  
{ Error Count: Three }

"Restart training level 21" He called out and a fresh droid dropped from the ceiling for him to destroy.

Coran, Shiro, and Allura were all on the bridge setting their course and deciding how to proceed. The princess had declared Keith to have a conflict of interest and therefore he was not permitted to participate in the discussion. Pidge had objected, stating that he was the only one who knew anything about the area and that his insight and knowledge would be useful. Allura had shot them down and, instead of including Keith, she decided to _exclude_ the other teens.

They must be close, he thought. The strange sensation of traveling via wormhole had worn off a few dobashes ago and based on the speed of the Castle he figured they should be arriving at the xanthorium clusters soon enough. Channeling one last spurt of rage, he sliced down the new gladiator.

{ Training Level 21: Completed }  
{ Error Count: Zero }

Satisfied, he commanded the Castle to "Start training level 22" and immediately a new droid dropped, poised and ready to strike. He got a few good blows in before the droid suddenly deactivated and an alarm blared through the Castle, bright red lights flashing painfully all around him.

{ Intruder } The Castle's soothing female voice sounded overhead. { Intruder } Keith abandoned his training session and rushed for the door panel only to find the room locked, overridden by the bridge controls. { Intruder } A frustrated growl escaped him and he glared angrily up at the camera in the room. { Intruder } "ALLURA! Unlock the quiznaking door!" He practically snarled. { Intruder } Kicking the door several times didn't work. { Intruder } Sliding his bayard between the doors to pry them apart didn't work. { Intruder } Throwing the body of the deactivated droid at the door didn't work. { Intruder } Keith purposely let out a growl, not holding anything back as the distinctly Galran sound ripped from his throat. { Intruder } He hissed at the camera and swung his bayard at the door for good measure. { Intruder }

Finally the alarm stopped and Keith heard a faint set of footfalls run past the training deck door followed shortly by another, substantially heavier set. He banged on the door again, screaming in Galran at Allura to open it to no avail. After a dobash or so he heard shots fire, followed by Coran's voice coming over the speakers.

_"Careful, he's faster than an angry klanmüirl!" _There was the sound of more shots followed by another round of commentary. _"But he can jump like a sprightly globinheffer! …. Somebody's as mad a wet chüper." _

There was a beat of silence before _"Coming your way, Number five! … He's dragging Pidge away!" _Followed by more rapid succession blasts, clearly from Hunk's bayard this time. _"Oh, Hunk failed the team, guys."_

_"It's up to Shiro this time, ooo this is exciting, he's activated his Galra hand! One young Paladin, one seemingly indestructible foe."_ The commotion grew louder, the group having doubled back the way they had originally come. Keith knew he could help; as a trained Blade of Marmora Operative he was uniquely qualified to take on Galra soldiers. Locking him up like this was basically sheathing their most valuable weapon. Another frustrated growl came out as he pounded his fist against the door.

Several dobashes went by before the door to the training deck finally opened to reveal an empty hallway. Fury bloomed in his chest and Keith sprinted from the training deck, heading straight for the lounge where the suit trackers said the others were located.

"-not have some _quiznaking_ Galra soldier on the bridge of my ship!" He heard Allura's hateful voice echoing out of the room.

"If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already." _ULAZ!_ Keith rounded the corner, sprinting into the lounge.

"Are your Galra threats supposed to win my trust?" He vaguely heard Allura spit, but it didn't matter, this was Ulaz! He was here, he was safe, and he was _here!_ Keith charged for him, not caring in the least that the Humans and Alteans were in the room as he ran up to the man sitting on the couch.

The older Blade startled briefly at the sudden proximity but he didn't address him; merely acknowledged Keith's presence with a nod before countering the princess' statement. "I'm not trying to win your trust. I'm trying to win a war. And, because of Voltron, we are closer than we've ever been." He turned to face Shiro before continuing. "Keith's gamble on you paid off better than we could have ever imagined." He straightened his back as he sat beside Ulaz on the couch, ignoring the questioning stares he was receiving in favour of staring down the princess.

"When you released me, you also mentioned that there were others working with you." Shiro pressed.

"Yes. We are called the Blade of Marmora and you have already met one of our Operatives." He turned to nod at Keith who returned the acknowledgement with a slight bow of his head. Ulaz smiled at him.

"Uh, others? Are they here?" Hunk nervously interjected, prompting Lance to scold him for acting scared in front of their chained-up prisoner. All Keith heard was 'chained-up' before he was jumping to his feet and screaming at Allura, his promise to Red forgotten in a sudden fury.

"Is this really necessary?!" He shouted at her, pointing behind his back to highlight the energy cuffs binding his former mentor.

"Yes." She replied, her tone indignant. "I am not taking any chances."

"Taking chances? I translated the coordinates for you! I guided the Castle here! I _told you_ it was safe!"

"Yes, well, I was merely covering all my bases. I needed to be sure you weren't leading us into a trap."

"IS THAT WHY YOU LOCKED ME IN THE TRAINING DECK?"

"You did what?" Shiro jumped in and Keith was practically seething.

"We had a Galra intruder on the Castle." She justified, squaring her shoulders and standing straighter.

"And you locked me in the training deck so … what? I wouldn't be able to help them?" She glanced to the side and he knew he'd hit the nail on the head. That was it. Keith saw red.

In the blink of an eye he found himself standing inches away from her face, hissing violently at her, and screaming a slurry of profanities in a weird mesh of Galran and English. He was vaguely aware of the commotion around them, the paladins scrambling about as they tried to intervene and Ulaz' voice as he commanded them to stop. It wasn't until a strong hand pulled him back that he finally took a full breath.

Shiro had him pinned against the wall, prosthetic arm pressed firmly across his chest. Lance, Hunk, and Coran were hovering over Allura, but Pidge had made their way to Keith's side and was standing next to Shiro. When her impromptu bodyguards stepped aside he was able to see the emotion in her eyes.

"WHAT was that?" She fumed and before he could speak, Ulaz cut him off.

"Kit, you're actions were inappropriate. Have you forgotten all of your training? Plak will be displeased with this." The disappointment in his voice hurt, but it did little to calm Keith down. It was time to end this once and for all, he was going to have it out with Allura and they were going to address what ever her quiznaking issues were while everyone was in one place. The fact that she would be forced to spew her racist bullshit in front of not only him, but Ulaz as well, was just gravy.

"I'm not a kit anymore." He responded in a cold voice, shrugging off the medic's hand.

"Then do not act like one. You will apologize to the Altean Princess for the way you have treated her."

"No." he deadpanned, looking Allura in the eyes and pulling all emotion from him face and voice.

She had the nerve to wear an offended expression. "Pardon me?"

"Did I stutter? I said 'NO'." He crossed his arms but held eye contact. Standing his ground and digging in his heels. "Why should I be the one to apologize? I'm sick of this, I'm sick of having to tip toe around the Castle for fear of offending you by my very existence. I'm sick of biting my tongue and modifying my behaviour to come off as 'human' as possible. I'm tired of listening to you spew your _bullshit_ about my people and our culture. And I'm tired of trying to justify your shitty fucking attitude! Fuck you, Allura! Fuck you and your holy than thou attitude, your frankly racist mind-set, and your playing the innocent victim! Fuck you for making me feel like shit when I did NOTHING WRONG! I'm done with this and I'm **NOT **apologizing! When you're ready to grow the hell up and apologize to _me_ you can come find me." With that he turned to Ulaz. "We can take Red to the base. I'll give Pidge and Coran instructions on how to access it with the Castle but we're leaving right now. I need off this ship." He finished his line and stormed out.

Keith headed for his room to grab an overnight bag and his Blade suit, opting to pack the Paladin armour in his bag instead of wearing it. Ulaz followed, shuffling along behind him and it took a few dobashes before the cuffs fell away, having been deactivated by Coran most likely. Ulaz said nothing to him, not that Keith would have been listening, his head was swirling with thoughts – none of which were pleasant. They made their way to the Red Lion's hangar and she opened up without prompting. He felt her brush against his mind with worry but he assured her that he was fine and the two Blades took off, Keith returning to base for the first time in well over 2 deca-phoebs.

* * *

She watched her father's lion leave the Castle and fly straight for the heart of a large xanthorium cluster before disappearing. Just as Keith had said, the base was clearly hidden amongst the crystals. Allura let out a shaky breath and felt the tension clenching around her heart ease as the lion flew further and further away. The Humans fussed about the Castle and dear Coran shot her nervous glances he likely thought she didn't notice. A smile graced her lips before falling once again.

She knew the Galra were volatile; they had a reputation for being aggressive, especially when backed into a corner. And that was exactly what had just happened. She had backed Keith into an emotional corner with her terrible treatment of him and he reacted violently. Except, this was much more intense that was expected. He was hot headed and aggressive, rash and instinct driven, but he was _not_ unreasonable or heartless. Either she had pushed him to the point of no return, or something else was at play here.

He'd been right, she had been unfairly cruel to him and her intentions were to apologize when she returned. Sitting in the cell on Central Command had given Allura plenty of time to think, and rethink, and over think, about everything that had transpired between them. She had come to the conclusion that she needed to apologize for the way she'd treated him, and for not giving him a chance.

But all of her good intentions went flying out the airlock the moment Shiro placed the Red Lion in its hangar. Her gut told her it had something to do with why Red had been glowing a bright purple. Something unnatural had happened and what ever it was it had caused her anger to boil back to the surface, and caused Keith to react far more aggressively than normal. And now she was down her Red Paladin.

It was situations like this that made Allura wish her father's AI was still in the Castle. What she wouldn't give to be able to run this one by him. She just hoped it wasn't too late to salvage their relationship.


	10. Communications Base Thaldycon

**COMMUNICATIONS BASE THALDYCON**

Keith lay in his old bed, in his old room, on his old base. He should feel better here, shouldn't he? This place was familiar, it was once home. But the anxiety he'd been feeling the past few quintants hadn't let up. In fact, even though he was nowhere near the Princess, the awful feeling wasn't any better at all. He rolled over on his side and took a deep breath, then another, before finally resigning himself to a sleepless night.

* * *

They crashed against each other, the loud thud of colliding bodies echoing off the walls along side their heavy breathing. Keith lunged to the left, narrowly avoiding the edge of Plak's blade before whirling around to swipe his leg. The older man collapsed onto one knee, repurposing the momentum to somersault into a new position. "You're being reckless. Focus, plan your attack 3 manoeuvres in advance." His former mentor scolded and Keith let out a growl of frustration. He couldn't focus, he was trying as hard as he could, but something was blocking his ability to concentrate.

Keith didn't last much longer. With his mind elsewhere he was an easy target, Plak taking him out after only a few dobashes.

"Again" The mentor commanded and, for the first time in his life, Keith turned down to order to spar. "Is everything alright? You're not acting like yourself."

"I'm fine." He dismissed, moving to collect his red Earth jacket and wipe off his face with a towel. "It's just, a lot has changed."

"Yeah, no kidding! Red Paladin of Voltron! I'm proud of you, kit." Plak smiled as he nudged Keith's shoulder, throwing him slightly off balance.

With a half hearted groan Keith voiced his objections. "Not a kit anymore."

{ Operative 2675 to the hangar for visitor arrival. Operative 2675 to the hangar. }

Tragok's voice echoed overhead and Keith let out another unenthusiastic groan. He made his way through the small base with Plak, the two traversing the halls in relative silence until he reached the primary hangar. Inside, Red was sitting tall in line with the pods and looking dramatically out of place next to the generally uniform appearance of the Blade ships. He smiled up at her and felt the soft purr in the back of his mind.

"It's pretty cool. I'd love to have a look inside it if that's possible. Maybe even a ride?" Plak contributed from beside him and Keith nodded.

"She." He corrected. "And sure, maybe later."

"Rubin would have been beside himself to see a Voltron Lion. I wish he was here to see this." There was a dark tint to his words, and a finality to the past tense that was used. Looking up at the accomplished young trainer, Keith couldn't see past the activated mask of his suit, but he did note an almost permanent slump to his shoulders. Why hadn't he noticed that before?

"Did he get reassigned?" Keith probed; fearing the answer his gut knew was coming.

Plak shook his head slightly. "No." He answered quietly, voice dropping as he continued to stare up at Red. "We went on a mission with Rikki and a headquarters operative named Zavin. It was a hard mission, and our intel had been planted by the Empire; we walked right into an ambush." He took a moment to collect himself and Keith watched him, his gaze still fixed on Red and his body tensing ever so slightly as he pulled up the memory of his lost brother. "Zavin called for a retreat and we turned back right away, but Rubin didn't make it to the extraction point on time. A few phoebs ago we found what was left of him in a work camp out on the fringes of the Empire. Hollowed out and stolen by the retched druids. The operatives who found him … ended his suffering."

There was a distant sound in the young man's voice and Keith felt a pang in his chest. "Rubin was a fine Blade. His loss is felt by us all." Leaning into Plak's side, he let out a comforting purr as the other wrapped an arm around him, squeezing tight.

"Thanks." Their moment didn't last, ruined by the sudden opening of the heavy hangar doors and the Green Lion's loud roar. Keith glared angrily at the lion as it landed and mentally told Red to scold her sister for the intrusion.

Ignoring their guests, he turned back to his friend. "Can I accompany you to the resting wall later this quintant?"

"I'd like that."

* * *

"WOW this place is awesome! How long are we staying here? Can we see the generator thingy? Is there a cafeteria? Where's the bathroom?" Hunk rushed out of the Green Lion and nearly trampled Lance in his attempt to get answers from Keith as quickly as possible. With the hangar doors closed once again, protecting them all from the harsh vacuum of space, the two Blades dissolved their masks. Plak took over when Hunk reached them, stamping down everything he had just been feeling and putting on a more welcoming expression. He greeted the overly excited Paladin, offering to escort the poor guy to the nearest toilet, and giving a look that said he was very interested in spending some time getting to know this new species. Keith smirked; the others were not going to like the way Galra got to know each other.

"Dude, this place is cool. It looks nothing like those Galra bases we've been on!" Lance said, admiring the design of the station.

"This _is_ a Galra base, Lance. It's just not an _Empire_ base."

"Yeah, yeah, you knew what I meant." The Blue Paladin waved his hand dismissively and Keith narrowed his eyes, letting out a faint growl at the boy. "Yeesh, take a chill pill dude." The young Blade gave a sharp hiss and before he could revel in the shock on Lance's face, a swift smack to the back of his head had him reeling around to face Tragok.

"This is precisely why you are not on the welcoming committee, kit." Keith groaned and mumbled 'not a kit' as he stepped aside, offering a respectful salute to the base's Commander. "Right, welcome to the Blade of Marmora Communications Base Thaldycon. We are honoured to host the famed Voltron Paladins." Keith rolled his eyes. "Since you are already familiar with our operative Keith, I shall defer to him for your tours."

"WHAT?" He shrieked. "I thought I wasn't on the welcoming committee. Can't I just go back to my room?"

"No." Tragok turned to Allura, softening his voice and stance to come off slightly less militaristic. "Princess Allura, you will be our honoured guest. I have a private room prepared for you." He bowed and left them, exiting the hangar as swiftly as he'd entered it. Keith turned to glare at the others; playing chaperone had not been in his plans. He didn't say a word, instead Keith made his way abruptly out of the hangar, turning in the opposite direction of Tragok and heading for the paladin's rooms. The group scurried behind him to keep up.

They walked the halls in a nearly suffocating silence. The others made the odd comment here and there but Keith ignored them. Each question was ignored, each comment about the architecture or design of the base was ignored, and each observation about the Blade of Marmora or its members was ignored. Eventually they got the hint and stopped speaking.

One by one the paladins removed their helmets, tucking them under an arm as they walked. It wasn't until they reached the first room that the problem with this decision became apparent. "_This room is for Lance and Hunk and Pidge. That one –_" he pointed to the door directly beside the room to its left "- _is for Coran and Shiro."_ He then turned to the door directly to the right of the first room "_Allura in there."_ before turning back to face the group, crossing his arms and letting out a huff. "_Any questions?"_

Their faces were an array of shock and confusion. "Uh, what? Dude, da-fuck language was that?" Lance asked, his look of confusion migrating into annoyance. Keith glowered at him.

"Galran, dipshit."

"Just speak English!"

"Why? This base was my home before I came to Earth. It's a Blade base and if I want to speak my native Galran then I'll speak my native Galran. Don't like it? Put your fucking helmet back on." Keith huffed, speaking English so they'd understand, and immediately switching back to Galran to drive home his point. "_Put your stuff in your rooms and get situated. I'll wait here for 2 dobashes before we continue the tour, with or without everyone."_

Lance immediately began to argue the language change until Shiro stepped in, his cybernetic arm acting as a translator allowing him to understand the instructions. He relayed the information and their time limit, then gave Keith a look that screamed 'what's wrong with you' as he stepped into his room with Coran. The others entered their own rooms after Shiro used his hand to open the door for the Princess and Keith used his for the two cadets.

He gave them more than 2 dobashes. Waiting a whole 5 dobashes before banging on the door to the cadet's room and yelling (in English) for them to 'hurry the hell up'. It took another dobash before the entire group was gathered and Pidge muttered mutinously that they knew he wouldn't ditch them. Keith just rolled his eyes.

He led them through the halls pointing out the showers, bathrooms, laundry facility, lounge area, meditation room, training deck, cafeteria, archives, flight simulators, classroom, main bridge, engine room, and medbay. He may have also taken them past the morgue for shits and giggles. He did _not_ however, take them to any of the more sacred locations; like the resting wall, or the reflection pool.

The tour had gone by pretty smoothly until they reached the recruit training wing where the classrooms and simulators were stationed across from each other, as well as rooms setup to resemble various sections of Empire ships and bases. While they were nowhere near as detailed as the decoy base, these rooms were vital in their training regiments. Pidge had been fascinated with the mock Empire system interface, while Lance had been obsessed with trying to use the simulators. After Plak dropped off a mildly terrified Hunk, the Yellow Paladin had tried to sneak bites from the snack table in the main classroom.

Currently Keith was struggling to convince Hunk not to eat the tasty looking tarts, even though they were still warm and smelled heavenly. "Anything that smells that good can't possibly be dangerous!" the big guy had reasoned and, try as he might, Keith could not express enough just how dangerous those little tarts actually were. It wasn't until Pidge piped in that Hunk actually pulled his chubby fingers away from the treat.

"Diffry berry? Isn't that the stuff used to poison Iverson back at the Garrison?" They'd asked and Hunk paled immediately, his hands finding their way back to his sides as Keith nodded.

"Oh man, I heard about that! Some cadet tried to kill him with a toxin they mixed into his apple sauce!" Lance paused … processing … wheels turning … "That was YOU?" _there it is!_ Keith chuckled to himself and nodded again.

"I didn't try to kill him. I knew Nurse Rob would administer a shot of epinephrine and he'd be fine." Keith rolled his eyes, folded his arms across his chest, and shifted his weight onto his right hip. "I was buying us some time so Pidge could steal information off his computer. We were trying to figure out how to save Shiro and Matt from the Empire."

"Is that how you got expelled from the Garrison?" Hunk chimed in and Keith nodded.

"Only partially. You wouldn't have gotten expelled if you hadn't socked Iverson in the eye."

"You did WHAT?" Shiro interjected, cutting Pidge off at the tail end of their unhelpful contribution. Keith glowered at them, Shiro wasn't supposed to find out about that.

"Yeah, you did what?" Plak's voice came from around the corner as he appeared from seemingly nowhere. "I assume this 'Iverson' is a commanding officer?" Shiro nodded at him, and Allura visibly tensed as the oblivious trainer moved to stand beside her. He seemed to notice the Altean Princess for the first time, eyes widening as he took her in. "You must be Princess Allura!" He excitedly exclaimed, thrusting his hand out in greeting. "I can tell because you're so … Allur-ing." Plak threw in a wink at the end and Keith let out a heavy sigh, his fingers moving to pinch the bridge of his nose in exasperation. Allura blinked rapidly at him, her face morphing into shock, completely taken aback by his comment and it was clear she had not been expecting it in the least.

Pidge broke the tension, snorting loudly and finally pinning down what it was about Lance that had felt so familiar when they'd met back at the Garrison. His similarity to Plak suddenly becoming painfully obvious. "Oh GAWD." They groaned. "There's two of them!"

"It was not funny before, and it is not funny now." Allura sneered, turning her nose up at the situation and folding her arms across her chest, effectively refusing the outstretched limb. Plak took the insult for what it was, bright eyes turning to a glare.

"Keith was right, you really are a piece of work." He huffed at her and she gasped in shock. It was satisfying to watch. Instead of allowing her a retort, Plak turned to the Humans in the room, addressing them all for the first time. "I am Plak of the Blade of Marmora. It is a nice to meet you. How long will you all be staying at our communication base?"

The question was mostly directed to Shiro. Their Black Paladin was oozing 'leadership' from every pore as he squared his shoulders and addressed Plak; still clearly uncomfortable to be so casual with someone who was pure Galra, but doing his best nonetheless. "We aren't sure just yet. That is mostly dependant on Keith here. We can't exactly leave without our Red Paladin, we wouldn't be able to form Voltron and our team just wouldn't be complete without him." He gave a warm smile and Keith felt some of the ice around his heart begin to melt.

"Red Paladin!" Plak added almost reverently. "I still can't believe it! Feels like just yester-quintant you were reassigned to our base. I can't believe how much has changed, how much _you've_ changed." He added, giving Keith a strange look.

"Wait, you knew baby Keith?" Hunk asked excitedly.

"Um, no – we met when he was 15 deca-phoebs old."

"You said he was reassigned?" Allura questioned, side eyeing Keith and unable to hide her curiosity.

"Yeah, he was relocated by our Leader after causing some trouble back at head quarters."

"More like I was 'banished'." Keith muttered to a round of snickers.

"You deserved it kit. Actually, you're lucky Tragok even let you anywhere near the simulators when you arrived here." Keith rolled his eyes but smirked at the memories. He still thought it had all been worth it. "Actually, we should test the Paladins, see how you hold up against our pilots. What do you say?" All three of the cadets scrambled over each other in their enthusiastic attempts to be the first to try out the sims. Shiro agreed much more maturely but Keith could see him struggling to contain the glee that bubbled under the surface. At the end of the day, no matter how well he took to his role of team leader, Shiro was still a pilot at heart; one who loved flying just as much as Keith did.

* * *

Lance had been first to enter the sim, Keith explaining the difference in the controls and how the simulators worked. The four Humans had opted to leave their helmets on, activating the visual translator in the visor so that they could read the instructions on the screen.

Their Blue Paladin breezed his way through the first few levels with relative ease, until the third level hit and he smashed nose first into an Empire cruiser's ion cannon blast. His pod disintegrated on impact and the controls gave a relatively strong jolt of electricity as a punishment for his failure. Keith may have left that titbit out of his explanations. Lance had screeched like a wounded Earth cat and complained loudly about how much it hurt.

Neither Pidge nor Hunk had made it past the first level, both eating it just before the cut off. Lance had actually swelled with pride at their demise. Hunk took the punishment with a yelp, while Pidge flew from their seat the moment the sim crashed, somehow avoiding the electric shock.

Coran took a stab next, passing the first level but being blindsided by falling debris and subsequently failing the second. The jolt had made the hair on his moustache frizz and stand on end. Allura flat out refused to enter the sim on the grounds of not wishing to be shocked. Plak had shrugged and let her out of the exercise which Keith deemed unfair favouritism.

Shiro entered last, climbing into the pod amidst a barrage of useless tips and pointers from the failed cadets. Smiling and nodding along, he closed the sim's hatch and began the program. He'd made it the farthest, managing to pass all of the other's scores before finally failing on the seventh level. Plak had been impressed. The moment Shiro stepped out of the pod, the older man had clapped him on the back in approval so hard that the Human had lost his balance and stumbled forward.

"That was impressive; much better than the other's attempts. Even the Altean didn't do as well!" Plak praised, garnering himself several scowls and one stuck out tongue courtesy of a very 'mature' Blue Paladin. Keith snickered to himself.

"Oh, you think it's funny? How 'bout you give it a try then Mr. Confident!" Lance jeered and Keith rolled his eyes.

"We don't have time for that. There's 38 levels per craft style and I don't feel like standing here all quintant while Keith destroys his own records." Plak's dismissal made him blush; the humble brag of his former pupil's skill as a pilot was so subtle Keith doubted anyone other than Pidge would pickup on it.

* * *

Pidge, Hunk, and Lance lay spread out on the side of the training room floor panting and cradling various injuries while Keith danced around them. "Come on you guys, get up!" He teased, kicking lightly at Lance's leg and garnering a hefty groan of agony and exhaustion from the boy.

"I can't feel my – everything!" Lance whined, lolling his head from side to side on the mat, sweat pooling around him. "Seriously, you call this 'getting to know each other'? I call it torture!" he groaned again as a hydration pouch landed on his gut.

"Are all Humans this weak?" Plak asked in complete sincerity.

"Pretty much." Keith shrugged. "There are a few exceptions, but most would lose a sparing match to a kitling." The two Blades chuckled and Pidge let out a sarcastic 'hardy har har' from their place on the mat, though they didn't bother trying to prove him wrong.

This is what he had been missing, this feeling of camaraderie and belonging. He'd felt this with the paladins at first, but after Allura had turned on him everything on the Castle ship became far too tense. Plak tried to invite the princess into a sparring match, attempting to include her in their bonding, but she merely arched a brow and huffed at him.

"Don't bother, miss priss over here wont want to _slum_ it with a Galra soldier, Blade or otherwise." Keith spat watching as her face morphed into defiance. She rose from her seat, striding gracefully across the training room to stand before Plak. Keith smirked; she was very predictable and easily manipulated, a side effect of her youth.

The white, pink, and blue Altean flight-suit was a sharp contrast to Plak's black and purple Blade suit, but Allura stood tall and met her opponent in the centre of the sparing area. "I accept your challenge on the grounds that we each use a staff." Plak quickly agreed, a giddy energy rolling off him and an excited sparkle to his eyes. Keith rolled his.

Their match had been impressive. He knew the princess had training, but it was a whole other thing to actually see her perform. She was fast and strong but Plak was highly skilled and, though she had held her own for far longer than anticipated, ultimately she was no match for the Blade Operative.

"Well fought, Princess." Plak gushed and Keith made a gagging sound. But Allura, Allura had blushed, and that surprised him the most. He quirked a brow and watched as his former mentor reached out a hand and hoisted the defeated Princess to her feet.

The rest of their tour seemed to go by relatively smoothly. Pidge and Hunk vanished to help Rikki with repairs to the gravity generator. Shiro opted to spend the rest of the afternoon in the meditation room with Coran. Allura was intercepted by Ms Proxa and drilled about Altean culture and history. Before he knew it, only Lance remained.

The Cuban boy followed Keith around the base like a lost puppy, or an unwelcome shadow, until he couldn't take it any more. "Will you _please_ leave me alone? Why are you following me, Lance?"

The poor boy seemed to whither under his scrutiny, deflating at the aggressive tone. "Sorry, I just thought it would be cool to see where you lived, you know? See what it was like for you growing up. That's all." And now Keith felt like the asshole. Letting a little of the fight fall away, he softened his gaze and took in the other's demeanour. He wasn't being hostile, Lance genuinely _wanted_ to follow Keith and learn more about the Galra. Yup, he definitely felt like an asshole now.

Crossing his arms with a huff he managed a small smile. Though it had lessened slightly, he was still being plagued by the anxiety from before and it was clearly factoring into his dramatic reactions. There was no reason to have blown up at Lance like that. But now wasn't a good time. "Look, I have somewhere private I need to be. But how about we make a deal. You piss off and leave me the hell alone for the rest of this quintant, and I'll come get you after dinner."

"Why? What do you have planned?" Lance asked with suspicion.

"Nothing. We can run through the rest of tonight and all of tomorrow as if I'd never left the base. I'll put you on my old schedule including class with Ms Proxa, the simulators, flight training, combat training, meals – the whole none yards."

Lance smirked. "It's _nine _yards, dude. And yeah, ok. That sounds fun! I'll see if the others wanna do it too!" Keith nodded, turning to leave before a clearing throat pulled his attention back. "Um, I have no idea where I'm going." Keith groaned.

* * *

He'd ended up leaving Lance in the main lounge room with a data pad and an old game chip. It had taken nearly a varga to explain the game mechanics to him, and in the end he had just stuck his helmet back on to use the translator. Now Keith found himself charging through the halls at full tilt, rushing to meet up with Plak. He had the vague sense of being followed, but that feeling had become familiar to him over the past few quintants. Ever since leaving the Emperor's Central Command fleet, he'd felt as though he was never alone. So he ignored the sensation.

Plak was waiting for him outside the large doors, leaning against the wall with one foot hitched and his arms crossed over his chest. He looked damn good, Keith thought. "I was starting to worry." The older Blade spoke without looking up, seemingly mesmerized by the tips of his claws.

"I'm sorry – I needed – to deal with – Lance." Keith huffed, gasping for breath as he came to a stop. "Left him – in the lounge."

"Did you run the whole way here?" Keith nodded in response and Plak's eyebrows nearly shot off his head. "Geeze kit, I knew you had stamina but, _stars!"_

"Humans are endurance runners and fighters. They can't run as fast as us and they aren't nearly as strong but they have endurance like I've never seen before! I mean, I can outrun all of the other Paladins, but they can out last me no sweat. Well, maybe not Hunk – or Pidge. But Shiro and Lance for sure."

"Fascinating! So that's why you always had so much energy, huh?" Plak added with a chuckle, the cheerful sound dying down as he glanced back to the doors. He let out a long sigh, a weight settling back on his shoulders, and the momentary lightness of the air fading into something heavier. "Shall we?" Keith nodded in response yet again, stepping through the heavy doors behind his former mentor.

The room was dim, even dimmer than the rest of the base. He knew the Humans would struggle to see in this lighting but that didn't matter; they weren't welcome in this part of the base anyways. He followed Plak further inside, making their way over to the small basin in the centre of the room. It was small and shallow, approximately the size of a dinner plate and only slightly deeper, standing at 4 feet tall and made of shimmering luxite. Inside was a fine purple sand taken from his people's home planet of Daibazzal. Keith took a small amount into his fist and continued on towards the wall on the far side of the room.

The wall was made of a special metal, one that could be pierced by a luxite blade without losing any of its structural integrity from the intense pull of the vacuum of space beyond it. This wall was the final resting place of their members. When a Blade of Marmora operative perished, or was lost on a mission, their blade would be salvaged and returned to their home base.

The blades were coated in the fine purple sand and pierced into the wall by a family member, mate, or superior officer. Never to be removed. Here rested the blades of countless fallen operatives, each a tragic and devastating loss to them all. The Galra lived together, fought together, and mourned together. The loss of one was a blow to them all.

Keith stepped past Plak, placing his sand coated hand on the hilt of Rubin's blade. The weapon felt cold and dead, the flicker of its owner's quintessence having long since faded away. A shudder passed through him as he gave a silent farewell, rubbing some of the sand into the sigil with his thumb. After a dobash, he released the blade, moving back to Plak's side and watching as the other did the same.

They stood there for a while, Keith not wanting to pull him away before he was ready, and Plak not wanting to leave his fallen brother. It was nearly a varga before the older Blade turned towards the archway at the far right of the room. Keith followed, walking through the arched entry into the shimmering light.

The narrow path around the edge of the room was barely 3 feet wide as it snaked its way around the irregular shapes of the reflection pool. The dark water in the pool reflected the light of the soft purple flames coming from the perpetually lit sconces along the walls. The lights bounced around, dancing across the walls and ceiling in an ever-changing pattern as the flames flickered in the still and quiet room. Their voices echoed off the rounded metal walls, not a single right angle anywhere in sight, giving this section of the base an ethereal feel; different from anything else they were used to.

The soft edges were an architectural metaphor for how life never truly ends; there are no full stops in the grand scheme of things. Quintessence is borrowed from the universe to give life to a being and returned upon their death, forever existing though its form may change. Keith found this comforting; he didn't know what the Humans believed happened after they died, though he knew they must have some sort of belief system since Lance had called himself a Catholic. Pidge didn't seem to believe in anything other than their tech, Shiro had a belief system that he kept private, and Hunk never really said anything along those lines.

He stepped into the pool behind Plak, settling down to a crouch as the inky black liquid lapped at his shoulders. It was the same temperature as a healthy Galran body temp and made it feel as though you were floating in a vast nothingness. They moved together until they reached the deeper sections of the pool where Keith's feet only barely touched the bottom. He lay back, letting his body float weightlessly on the surface as he spread out his limbs and watched the light dance around. It was easy to lose yourself here for vargas at a time, reflecting on the lost ones as you float peacefully in the stillness.

The tension that had been clutching at him seemed to melt away, the dark thoughts and energy unable to enter this peaceful place. He let the serenity of the room pull him into a trance like state, focusing his energy and his quintessence on _why_ he had felt so awful. Keith focused, trying to suss out the change that had caused a shadow to loom over his every encounter for the past few quintants.

The lights above danced around, swirling and twirling as their patterns changed and he saw something that sucked the air from his lungs; Haggar. The Emperor's witch stared back at him, her dark energy even more sour and putrid than that of her foul Druids. Keith retched as the sensation of her presence hit him, a tightening of his gut forcing him to curl in on himself and sending him down to the bottom of the pool. He struggled against the feeling of being held down, forced into the depths of the dark water by some unseen power, struggling to escape until a strong hand grabbed his shoulder and dragged him to the surface.

Keith took a gasping breath as the illusion shattered and he returned to his senses. Plak dragged him to the shallows, the image of a crystal shard flashing behind his eyes mere tics before he passed out.

When he came to, he was lying on the narrow floor of the room, the dancing lights guiding him back to reality as he coughed up more of the inky black water and rolled over onto his side. His chest hurt, his head hurt, but he fought against it.

"Keith? Are you okay?" An incredibly worried Plak exclaimed, pulling him up to a sitting position and he nodded in response. "You scared me! What happened?"

Keith coughed, clearing his throat before attempting to speak. "I think I figured out why I've been so 'off' lately." He replied, forcing himself to stand. "I – I need to go lie down."

* * *

Keith didn't join the others for dinner and he didn't get Lance as he promised. In the morning, he didn't join them for breakfast and he didn't attend the team meeting.

* * *

Keith had barely finished getting dressed when the door opened and Shiro stepped in. "Keith? Is everything aright?"

"Yeah, I'm just – I need to deal with something."

"Well, Commander Tragok has called a meeting; he wants to talk to us all about working with your organization more closely. Come meet us on the main bridge okay?" Keith nodded in response, towelling off his hair and following the Black Paladin from the room.

On the bridge was the entirety of team Voltron as well as Ulaz, Plak, Rikki, and Commander Tragok. "Welcome, Keith. As I was saying, coordinated attacks between Voltron and the Blade of Marmora could finally sway the war in our favour. With your power and our inside knowledge, we could hit the Emperor where it hurts."

The meeting dragged on for quite a while as Shiro, Allura, Ulaz, and Tragok went back and forth over the logistics. In the end, Rikki had pointed out that nothing they decided here was final until the organization's leader gave his word. Keith knew he was right, it didn't matter how much they hashed it out, in the end whether the Blade of Marmora worked with Voltron or not was up to Kolivan.

The proximity alarm sounded suddenly, catching them all off guard. "You were tracked!" Ulaz accused, anger clear on his face. The glares of the Blades fell unfairly on Keith.

"Impossible." Allura countered. "There are no trackers on my ship. Coran checked it himself as I'm sure Keith has also done." He nodded after a moment, surprised that she had come to his defence. Ulaz huffed at her and pulled up the approaching object on the screens. The hard casing opened to reveal a familiar and unwelcome sight.

"It's another one of Zarkon's robot … beasts … RO-BEASTS!" Hunk yelled, pointing aggressively at the screen and beginning to panic.

"Everyone, get to your lions. But don't launch." Shiro studied the screens with a scrutinizing gaze, a plan forming in his mind as he delegated. "We'll wait to see what this thing does. I don't want to risk fighting it if we don't have to."

* * *

Keith sat in Red, his screens connected to the other lions as well as Allura and Coran on the Castle's bridge. They sat and waited, and waited, and waited as the robeast approached. It was big, bigger than he had expected it to be, and appeared to be a large head with a thruster at the base. It opened a hatch where its mouth would be, drawing in the xanthorium clusters around it, before letting out an absolutely massive blast of energy into a wall of crystals.

The xanthorium clusters exploded on contact, powerful shockwaves rushing out in all directions. If the base had been anywhere near that section of the cluster the force alone would have shredded it. Keith swallowed the lump in his throat. This was his fault, he had allowed team Voltron to come to this system and now the entire base was in danger. Plak, Tragok, Rikki, Proxa, Kyra, Fritzil, and Ulaz were all in danger and it was entirely his fault.

The robeast charged up again, pulling in another round of crystals and realigning itself with a different section of the system; their section. Keith felt himself pale as the destructive cannon opened, aimed directly at the castle ship. Vaguely he heard Coran shout about the particle barrier and watched as the blue light formed protectively around the Castle and Lions. In the blink of an eye the robeast was unleashing hell upon them. Blast after blast hit the shield before the giant gaping hole opened up, sucking in more of the clusters and charging for another attack.

"It's pulling us in as well!" Allura observed, and she was right. The power of the robeast was drawing in not only the crystals, but also the castle. "Paladins, I think it's time to launch!"

"Form VOLTRON!" Came Shiro's call over their coms and not a tic later Voltron was punching the abomination out of range. The force of their attack had caused the robeast to miss fire, aiming at a random point in the cluster and protecting the castle from being obliterated or drawn in any further. Unfortunately the force of the blast had dislodged the delicate balance of the pieces in the gravity generator, exposing the position of the small communication base.

They fought hard, giving everything they had, but it just wasn't enough. With a constant supply of energy, the beast was able to continually refuel its reserves, pounding them with blast after blast, never waning in its power.

Something dark zipped past his screens as two blade pods fired on the beast from behind. Lance had cheered about having backup for once, and Shiro had tried to open up a com line with the pods, but Keith's mind was racing. There was nothing they could do but hope to hold their ground long enough that the entire system ran out of crystals. That wasn't a plausible solution. Sure the Castle and the lions could get away, but that would leave the tiny base undefended. And while it was likely the robeast would follow Voltron, there was always the chance that it wouldn't. They needed something that would take it down from the inside, something to tear it apart instead of giving it power.

The back of his mind tingled as a shiver ran up his spine. The shard. That damn shard had been poisoning his every encounter for nearly a movement already. Like the robeast, it contained corrupted quintessence courtesy of Haggar herself. It was only capable of destruction.

"Guys, I have an idea!" He called over the lines. "I need to get close, as close as possible."

"Um – how about no, dude." Lance immediately objected. "Seriously, the second Voltron gets anywhere near that thing it tries to eat us!"

"Not Voltron; me. Red and I can do it. The rest of you get back to the castle and prepare to defend the base with the castle's shields." He commanded and felt the probing mind of Black as the Lion analysed him. Red responded with a possessive roar.

"Keith, are you sure about this?" Shiro hesitated.

"Nope. But we can't keep doing nothing."

"We aren't doing nothing, we're tactically evading."

"That's fancy Earth talk for 'nothing'." Keith rolled his eyes and answered the call from the Blade pod hailing him.

"_Keith, Voltron needs to protect the base. I'll do it."_ Plak volunteered and he shook his head.

"No, I can't let you do that."

"_And we can't risk losing a Voltron Paladin and potentially one of the Lions. There's no arguing. As your superior officer I command you to open the hatch of the Red Lion and let me in."_ Keith slumped in his chair and did as he was instructed. A few tics later the cockpit opened up to his former mentor and friend.

"WOAH! This is so much more impressive than I had imagined!" The Blade stared in awe at the Altean controls surrounding him. "What a magnificent … ship?" Keith snickered at his hesitation but nodded in agreement any ways. Red purred at the praise, offering her approval of Plak's presence.

"I think she likes you." The words barely made it out of his mouth before little hearts appeared in the other's eyes. The battle hardened soldier melting in pure glee as he lovingly caressed the walls of the cockpit whispering sweet nothings to the Lion. Keith was maybe a little jealous.

A powerful blast of energy rocketed past them, missing Red's side by a hair, and snapping them back to the reality of the situation. "Right, what's this plan of yours?" Plak asked, reluctantly returning his focus to the Paladin before him.

Keith rolled his eyes. "I have this." He replied, holding up the poisoned shard. "It's been tainted by the Emperor's witch and I think it could tear that robeast apart … from the inside." Plak paled as he examined it. "We just need to get it close, like – _very_ close."

The Blade looked up at him and gave a curt nod, taking the shard, and moving in for a tight hug. "It was nice seeing you again, kit. Take care of yourself." He pulled away, leaving a small affectionate lick to the side of Keith's cheek before turning heel and heading back for his pod. Immediately the Red Paladin opened a line to Rikki.

* * *

The Blade pod dropped from Red's cargo hold, flying in a determined path straight for the gaping mouth of the robeast. As it approached, a second pod swooped in, flying directly below. The two approached at a steady speed and Keith watched, resisting the urge to dig claws into his knees. Shiro gave the order to form Voltron and as they were merging, the pods made contact. The moment Voltron formed they called up their shields and a massive explosion had them bracing for impact.

Immediately the icy grip that had latched onto him, the deep sense of 'wrongness' that had permeated his every waking minute, the poison that had clouded his judgement and amplified the anger between himself and Allura, it was gone. All of it: gone. He felt the lightness as everything returned to normal only for it to be quickly replaced by panic as a single Blade pod returned from the violent explosion in front of them.

"No." He whispered over the coms to a resounding silence, no one daring to say a word.

* * *

The Lions returned to their hangars on the Castle ship, all except Red. Keith ran out of his Lion before her jaw had even finished opening, rushing to the returned pod and tearing off his helmet. The red and white helmet bounced across the metal floor of the hangar as the Paladin sprinted to the Galra exiting the pod. "RIKKI - Rikki where's Plak?" He screamed, a choked sob threatening to betray him. "I told you to get him! Where is he? WHERE?" Keith rushed by the others entering the hangar, and shoved his head into the tiny cockpit of the fighter; the tiny and _empty_ cockpit.

"Kyra and Ulaz already took him to the medbay. He's going to be alright." Relief flooded his veins at Tragok's reassurance. "You are welcome to pay him a visit if you wish, kit." Keith didn't even bother to comment on being called a kit again. Instead, he rose to his feet and gave a curt nod, blinking away the tears that nearly fallen.

* * *

After spending a few quintants back on his old base, it was hard to return to the castle. Everything was exactly the same, the same too bright lights, the same clinical smell, and the same terrible food goo. He sat on his bed, dagger in hand, and stared into the glowing sigil at the hilt. Rubin was gone, Plak had almost been lost, and he still hadn't heard word about his Uncle Thace. Voltron was supposed to be helping the universe, things were supposed to be getting better but it just seemed like everything kept getting worse.

A tentative knock pulled him from his reverie and he glared at the door for a solid tic or two before getting up to open it.

"Keith, I – I was hoping we could talk." He stared at Allura for a moment, her cheeks flushed and her head angled down, staring nervously at the floor. He shrugged and stepped aside, letting the Princess enter. "Why is it so dark in here?"

"Galra, remember? Hurts my eyes."

"Oh, right. Yes." She seemed flustered as she stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. He could make this easier on her and just turn the lights back on, but after everything that had happened, he was still a little pissy. So instead Keith moved around her in the dark room and took a seat on his bed. Eventually she found her way over to the bed as well and took a tentative seat at the foot, sitting as straight and proper as she could. It gave the appearance of her having a rod shoved up her back. He could make a joke about the princess having a stick up her ass but he decided to be mature and hold that one it … maybe later he'd let it slip to Lance, the other boy would appreciate it.

"Keith, I'm sorry." She immediately blurted out and he blinked at her in surprise. "I had reacted very poorly to the news that you are Galra and I, well honestly I did not handle it very well at all."

"No Shit." He huffed in annoyance.

"Yes, well, I suppose you have every right to be upset."

"Allura, I understood why you freaked out initially. I even felt bad for not telling you, it made me feel like it was lying to everyone. But after all the bullshit you pulled, its going to take more than an 'I'm sorry Keith' to get past this." He crossed his arms over his chest watched as her eyes wandered the general area of his head, not once locking directly into his gaze. Realization settled in; she was clearly having a difficult time seeing him, even with the faint glow of his eyes.

With a huff, he got up and increased the brightness by a few increments; enough that she could just make out his features, but not bright enough to hurt his eyes. She smiled warmly at him as he took a seat at the head of the bed, pulling his legs up and folding them beneath him.

"We're a lot alike, you and I." That got his attention. He looked up, meeting her gaze and refusing to show any emotion on his face. "We've both lost much to Zarkon and his Empire. I was so overwhelmed by the loss of my people and my home that I didn't stop to think of what you had sacrificed. I only saw how difficult it was for me to be forced into working with a Galra and having a Galra paladin in my father's lion. It didn't occur to me that it would be difficult for you to work with Alteans. You have proven to be more than worthy of the Red Lion, and my father's AI had been fond of you before being corrupted by Sendak's crystal." She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. "What I'm trying to say is that, I miss judged you and mistakenly -"

"Stubbornly" he interrupted.

"- held to … what? Yes, I suppose I was being stubborn. Any ways, I _stubbornly_ held to my assumptions and prejudices unfairly. I am sorry. I know it will take more than this little chat for us to move on but I do hope, at the very least, we can work together again."

"We don't really have a choice do we?" He countered. "For the sake of the team we kinda _have_ to start getting along. But I appreciate the effort you're making. I guess I didn't really make it any easier on you like I could have." He paused a moment and took a calming breath of his own, building the resolve to get out what he knew he needed to say. "Allura, I'm not going to change anything. Actually, that's not true; I'm going to change a lot of things _back_. What I mean is – I'm not going to modify my behaviour to make everyone feel better. I know it's going to take some adjustment, but I don't care. I'm tired of being the one who has to change, always watching what I say or do, and just constantly walking on eggs, as the Humans say. I want to feel like I can relax and be myself."

"As you should." Once again, Keith found himself dumbfounded. "The Paladin bonds are built on trust and openness. Now that both you and Pidge have come forward with the secrets you were holding, the bonds can strengthen. I will do my best not to hold you all back as I have been."

"Thanks."

"One more thing before I go." He narrowed his eyes at her in suspicion but she seemed unfazed. "I am sorry for the loss of your friend. A woman by the name of Proxa told me that you were joining the other Blade in mourning."

"Plak." He nodded. "It was his brother, Rubin, we were saying goodbye to."

"Would it be inappropriate of me to offer you a hug for comfort?"

"Yes." He pulled his lips back in disgust. "Unless you want my claws in your eye sockets, don't try to hug me." The Princess paled slightly before composing herself and nodding.

"Cultural differences." She said with a smile and rose from the bed. "Good night Keith, I'm glad we could have this talk."

"Me too." The door closed behind her and every ounce of energy in his body vanished. Keith collapsed on his bed and stared up at the ceiling.

A flurry of emotions crossed over him. Relief that things with Allura were looking up, anxiety over the Emperor being able to track them, joy from the news that Plak had woken up no worse for wear, and excitement over no longer feeling the need to emend his every move. It wasn't going to be suddenly sunshine and happiness on the Castle of Lions, but at least they were on the way to a more amicable environment. He hoped.

Finally, even with the will of a Galra, Keith couldn't fight the inevitable any longer and drifted off to sleep.


	11. Cat and Mouse

**CAT AND MOUSE**

Keith and Lance floated weightlessly behind the group, watching as Pidge, Shiro, and Hunk stared at one of the damaged coil rods on the exterior of the ship. Why Shiro had insisted on ALL of them coming out here was beyond him and, quite frankly, ridiculous. What could he possibly contribute? Or for that matter, what could _Lance_ contribute? Neither of them were engineers, or mechanics, or tech wizards. He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, letting his body fall into a relaxed posture as he floated in the space surrounding the Castle of Lions.

_"Let's hurry up with these repairs. Zarkon could be here at any moment."_ Shiro commanded them all through their helmet coms and Keith rolled his eyes.

_"Okay, panel's off. Now, what?"_ Hunk asked as he pulled the coil from its containment slot.

Coran had promised to walk them through the repairs, but Keith still didn't see why the Altean wasn't out here himself fixing his Altean ship of Altean design with Altean parts. Honestly, Keith was starting to think he was the only one on this team with any common sense.

_"Very simple. Just loosen the blaxums on the somoflange."_ The man announced and Keith watched with an amused expression as Hunk stared nervously at the controls.

_"Could you be more specific?"_ The squishy teddy bear of a paladin deadpanned. He stifled a laugh, garnering a suspicious glare from Lance.

_"Sorry, Hunk, he means the poklones on the agroclams."_ Allura cut in and Keith smirked into his helmet from behind the group. A ship this size wouldn't even use any agroclams; they'd be too small to be effective.

_"No, that doesn't help."_ Hunk sighed and it took every ounce of self-control not to lose his resolve as he watched the poor guy struggle.

_"Easy, Hunk. I've got this."_ Lance interrupted, pushing the **actual** 'astro-mechanical engineering' cadet out of the way. Keith face palmed as the absolute dipshit pressed a series of buttons resulting in the near catastrophic failure of the engine core.

Allura and Coran panicked over the coms. Hunk curled in on himself, dissolving into a mess of nervous energy. Keith and Shiro tried to glare the coil back into submission. And Lance had the decency to look remorseful as he moved aside for Pidge to take over. The Green Paladin took a tic or two to assess the controls before immediately fixing the entire situation. Keith was impressed, but then again when it came to Pidge he usually was.

_"The tech on this ship never ceases to amaze me; it's so mathematically elegant. Its fit is 100 times more frictionless than any exoskeleton we have on Earth. It's … beautiful."_ They gushed, staring in wonder at the repaired haul of the Altean Castle, stars sparkling behind their eyes.

_"It's not a sunset, Pidge."_ Lance deadpanned and Keith couldn't hold back his chuckle. That line, that delivery: flawless.

A glowing snowball smashed into the side of Hunk's head. At least it looked like a snowball, not that Keith would know what a snowball looked like. He'd only ever seen them in videos on the Internet back at the Garrison. He quickly turned around to face the direction in which the alleged snowball had come, only to stare down an entire blizzard of them originating from a fixed point far off in the distance. The cloud of glowing puffballs was massive, completely engulfing the entirety of his field of view into the infinite void of space. Immediately Shiro went on the defensive, returning to "Officer Shirogane" and commanding them all to pull up their shields.

_"Remember your rogue projectile cluster training from the Garrison. First, we need a temporary shelter." _Keith was about to comment that they didn't need a shelter; they could easily just re-enter the Castle, when a goo-ball smushed against the back of Shiro's head_. "Oof, wha-?"_ Their Black Paladin gasped in alarm as he spun around.

Lance hadn't had time to correct his pose, still in the post throw position. _"Oh, sorry, Shiro! I was trying to hit Keith." Oh really?_ He thought to himself. Being raised in the Blades taught Keith many things:

1) How to be the best damn pilot the universe has ever seen.  
2) Never apologize for your successes.  
3)The engine room is a _terrible_ place to hide snacks.  
4) Highly advanced weapons training including: swords, blades, blasters, staffs, and throwing weapons.

Not necessarily in that order of importance. So naturally, Keith immediately grabbed the closest glob and spun around, using his momentum to hurl it straight at Lance's head, quickly snatching another for a follow up attack. "Ha, like that?" He smirked at their supposed sharpshooter when his throw successfully resulted in an uppercut. Before he could bait the other into retaliating, Hunk leapt in front of him, a goo-snow-smush ball thing in each hand.

_"YES! Squishy asteroid fight!"_ He bellowed and pounded Lance with both projectiles. Keith immediately broke, nearly letting go of his own ammunition as he burst out laughing.

A rapid-fire series of shots smoked him in the face shield, dead centre. _"Not so smug now are ya, Keith?"_ Lance taunted from behind the safety of Hunk's enormous frame.

Shiro tried to rationalize with them all, saying _"Alright guys"_ in his most 'dad' sounding voice but a rather large glob hit his shield. Naturally it was followed quickly by three more as the Blue and Yellow Paladins laughed maniacally. _"Oh, oh! Okay, now it's on!"_ He replied before jumping into the fray alongside Keith. They defaulted into pairs, Keith & Shiro vs. Lance & Hunk, the latter of which devolved into just Lance with a Hunk shaped shield.

_"Oh, come on!" _Lance protested when they ganged up on him, each moving to one side attempting to bypass Hunk and sandwich the Blue Paladin's head.

_"Hmmm."_ Pidge hummed from somewhere in the 'not fun' zone. Picking up one of the squishy-goo balls and studying it intently. _"I don't think these are asteroids."_ They announced thoughtfully. _"Coran, I'm going to need a containment unit."_

"_Just a tic"_ He called before being replaced by the Princess on the line.

_"They appear to be some sort of hyper-resilient spore."_ She noted, observing the mystery object through a feed Pidge setup in their visor.

_"This bioluminescent pulsing doesn't seem natural."_ Pidge replied. _"It appears programed. I think it's a code."_ The containment unit shot out from a vent on the castle, whirring past Lance's head and distracting him long enough for Keith to get in another clean shot. They started talking about impossibilities of programming a spore but Keith wasn't listening because distraction was weakness. Shiro had just learned that lesson the hard way as a 'spore' bopped him on the side of the head, causing his ear to smash painfully against his helmet. Now Keith was down a teammate and the two Human boys were crossing the gap, closing in on him to make their final blows.

He was not going to lose this match! Not to a couple of Humans, not to a couple of cadets, not to a couple of TEENAGERS! Even without Shiro he would destroy them because Keith is Galra dammit, and the Galra _do not_ submit or surrender or LOSE. He may have shouted "Victory or death" in his native Galran before unleashing hell on the other two.

_"Everyone needs to come in for decontamination."_ Allura commanded and the group reluctantly returned to the primary hangar as Coran ran the appropriate sequences.

Keith crossed his arms and admittedly fell into a slight pout as Lance boasted his win. "Oh ho, I totally beat you, Mullet!" he'd said, now safely inside the castle while the decontamination countdown began.

"You did not!"

"Did so! Look, I have less space goo on me than you do!" He reasoned and – yea, ok that was true but he was NOT going to get this as a win!

"Yeah, but only because you hid behind Hunk like a coward!" Lance let out a high-pitched gasp at the accusation but Keith pressed on. "Shiro and I combined have less goo on us than you and Hunk do, and since we were fighting in teams – you lose and we win."

"Nuh uh! We took Shiro out of commission before the end, so you were down a team member and WE win."

"Like hell you do." He was all charged up and stepping closer to Lance, ready to go a few more rounds. But Shiro intervened, moving to stand between them as the cleaning cycle began.

* * *

Keith sat on his bed after a tense dinner. Lance had glared smugly at him the entire time, muttering '_we won'_ not-so-quietly under his breath numerous times throughout the meal. Keith had rolled his eyes and at one point (much to Shiro's horror) even suggested they have a rematch with the food goo. Lance had been keen for it but Paladin buzz-kill had squashed the idea immediately. Pidge mostly wanted to get back to their lab and study the spore. Hunk wanted to keep the peace and maybe bake some food goo cookies. Allura and Coran backed up Shiro.

Which is how Keith found himself in his room, bored, and full of anxious energy. Ideally he'd hit the training deck, but Coran had banned him again. This time it was for taking out his frustrations on the main console after the gladiator hit him in the giblets with its staff one too many times. He tried blocking it and he tried to delete the move from its memory, but he couldn't get it to stop using the attack. All this trouble because the stupid droid was programmed to learn the most effective techniques against its opponents. So Keith did the next best thing – use a luxite sword to cut the control panel in half. Done.

Except, now Coran was super pissed off and had vowed to make him help with the repairs. Luckily the more essential parts were stored in the castle's lower levels but they would need to be replaced again, which meant a supply run. Which meant maybe getting some proper food so they didn't have to live off goo. Which meant that in the long run – this had really been a win. But it didn't change the fact that he was super bored right now and complaining to anyone about that only meant getting stuck helping Coran.

So Keith sat in his room and stared at the ceiling until that was too boring. Then he practiced his Blade forms and Garrison forms. Then he completed a few more lessons in Altean. Then he stared at the ceiling a bit more. Very thrilling day, lots to do.

"Ughhh" He groaned as he gave up staring at the ceiling for the third time, resigning himself to another round of forms and drills, maybe he'd even spice it up a bit and do some workouts.

_"Guys, check this out!"_ Pidge's voice came over the speakers and he welcomed the distraction as he hurried his way to the Green Lion's hangar.

Inside, Pidge had their lab stacked with equipment Keith had never seen before. There was an array of what looked to be repurposed Altean tech, a multitude of homemade contraptions, and Pidge's trusty Earth laptop. In the centre of the madness was the tiny Green Paladin, typing away and completely oblivious to the arrival of their teammates. It seemed as though each time he came down here Pidge had added new, and slightly more questionable, equipment.

"Pidge! What's good, my man … lady? Genderless creature of the dark?" Lance cracked, shooting finger guns at the exasperated Gremlin. They rolled their eyes and Keith stared at him in utter disbelief and bewilderment.

"I was able to crack the 'sporse code', see." They replied with a snort-chuckle combo. All three of the other Humans in the hangar groaned in unison and he realized there was some sort of joke he didn't get. Shrugging, Keith moved on, deciding not to care. "I ran the bioluminescent pattern through a variety of cryptanalytic sequences -"

"Woah, ok, stop right there. Again, but in English this time?" Lance cut them off.

With an eye roll and a grumble, Pidge continued. "I ran the blinky goo through some of my code-breaker programs," they replied with a heavy helping of sass, "including this homemade virtual Turing machine. Of course, I had to make a few tweaks to the original design because; obviously there have been several advancements since he designed it. Although you have to admit, Turing was a shining light in the world of science in an age when far too many were still -"

"PIDGE!" Keith interjected, cutting them off from their tangent. "What does it say?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry. It says 'Under attack. Galra. Help.' And then, there are coordinates."

"It's a distress signal." Shiro deduced, bringing the room up to speed in an instant. "Good work, Pidge." He smiled warmly down at the small Paladin, receiving a beam of pride in return. "Get those coordinates into the Castle ship's navigation system. Looks like we have another mission, guys." With that the team disbanded, splitting up for their respective rooms to change into their Paladin armour and meet back on the bridge.

Keith sat in his chair at the Red Paladin console and listened as Coran explained to the others exactly where the coordinates led. The spores came from the planet Olkarion, home of the Olkari people. Keith had been to Olkarion a few times as a small kit while on supply runs for the Blade of Marmora. He had been given the same lecture from Tok every time they went: Do not leave the pod, do not bother the delegates, do not touch anything, and do not remove your mask. He always left the pod, he always bombarded the locals with questions, he touched everything his eyes landed on, and he rarely wore his mask. In retrospect, bringing him along hadn't been very smart.

On one mission he had sneaked away, only to find himself hopelessly lost in the maze of constantly rearranging streets. A very nice lady guided him back to his team and, from that point forward, he'd been given a cube to occupy him when they arrived.

The cube was the coolest thing he'd ever seen. Whatever you gave it was spat right back at you. If he told he cube words, it would repeat them in his voice exactly as he'd said them. If he hit it with a rock, it would absorb the energy of the attack and shoot it back at him. His favourite thing was to record some of the Blade's giving orders and have the cube repeat them back to other Blades from around a corner. The chaos that would ensue was always entertaining. _Stars,_ it's no wonder he had a reputation for causing trouble.

"My name is Coran, and I'm a Gorgeous Man." { My name is Coran, and I'm a Gorgeous Man } The words were repeated back instantaneously and Keith was pulled from his memories by none other than the presence of an actual Olkari Cube.

Pidge was losing their mind, bouncing up and down with stars in their eyes. Lance gave the cube a skeptical look, while Hunk and Shiro both looked shocked and impressed.

"Why would a society of literal tech wizards use spores to send a distress signal?" He asked, clearly the only one able to focus on the mission at hand.

"Who cares?" Pidge dismissed. "When do we get to see that city?"

Disappointingly, Allura popped Pidge's bubble with her revelation. "Actually, Pidge, the distress signal isn't coming from the city; it's coming from the forest."

* * *

With their Lions being ground by the Olkari's EMP arrows, the entire team was forced to march on foot behind a woman named Ryner. Keith had heard of her, she'd been some sort of highly ranking advisor to the Olkari's King. Now, she was the leader of a band of rebels who had fled the great city into the forest for survival.

And survive they did! The forests had been transformed into mind-blowing recreations of their vast cities. Made entirely amongst the trees using a combination of wood and various other natural resources they had on hand, this new city was equally as impressive as the shape-changing Capital. Their group was standing on a ridge overlooking the new home of those who had fled the Empire's invasion. "As you can see, our people are resilient. We never stopped evolving. Instead, we adapted our skills to the environment." Ryner explained before they began their decent into the new city.

Here it was substantially darker, most of the light from the planet's star being blocked by the foliage above. This provided the Olkari with the necessary cover to hide their settlement from the eyes of the Empire. But it meant that species like the Alteans or Humans would have difficulty seeing, especially when the night cycle began. Not Keith though, his eyes were designed for this level of lighting and the dimmer it got, the easier it would be for him.

A bug thing flew by his head and he hissed at it, realizing too late that it was one of the tech infused creations the locals designed. An Olkari teen snickered from behind a tree but let out a gasp when he turned to glare at them.

" – get rid of these Glara invaders." Shiro's words drew him back to reality and he moved closer to the rest of the team, having fallen behind in his post bug-thing panic.

"It's not that simple, I'm afraid." Ryner countered. "The Galra have our leader, Lubos. If you attack, who knows what they'll do to him?"

"Then, we'll just have to rescue him." Shiro replied with determination and Keith just couldn't stop himself from cutting in.

"Rescue him? Rescue King Lubos? From the Empire?" He questioned rhetorically, a sarcastic edge to his tone. "Are we seriously doing this again?" Lance shot him a glare but Shiro merely held his gaze until the point was made. Yup, they were doing this again. And he had a funny feeling it wouldn't be the last time either. Keith groaned and huffed as he crossed his arms in defeat.

Speaking had drawn attention to him. His faintly glowing yellow eyes, slightly pointed ears, and sharper teeth meant Ryner took a grand total of 3 tics to determine that he was Galra. "I was unaware that Voltron had a Galra Paladin." Keith felt his back stiffen; he was not ready to deal with this all over again, though he had known it was inevitable. Every planet they were going to visit, every species they needed to free, were all under the control of the Empire and would most likely react poorly to his presence on the team. After their first (and admittedly rather uncomfortable) talk in his room, he and Allura had had another, much longer discussion where she'd promised to stand behind him. The Princess vowed that she would ensure each new member of the coalition knew he could be trusted.

He'd yelled at her for that one. Saying it wasn't that _he_ could be trusted, it was that there were more Galra than just the Empire and that _they_ could be trusted. Eventually the Blades would be working with the coalition – it was inevitable, and he wanted to lay the groundwork of acceptance before that day came. Allura had conceded quickly, agreeing that she would adjust her wording. But the Princess wasn't here right now; she was tucked away safely on the Castle of Lions waiting to hear a status update, and therefore she wouldn't be able to back him up.

"Yes." Shiro answered. "Keith is an invaluable member of team Voltron, and the Paladin of the Red Lion." He beamed at the man for his support. Ryner nodded but didn't say anything further, at least not until they ran into an older woman who made an admittedly exaggerated double take.

She'd recognized him from when he'd come to apparently pickup weapons crafted by the Olkari. Tok had always told him the supply runs were for parts needed to repair bases. Which was probably for the best – if he'd known they were powerful weapons he probably would have wanted one. Or destroyed something by accident.

The older woman disappeared into their central tree hub and returned with a stack of four blades in hand. The blades were long since deactivated, their flicker of quintessence having faded away several deca-phoebs ago. "When the Galra Empire attacked, we called upon the Blade of Marmora for assistance. A nearby outpost came to our aid but their members were defeated. These weapons are all that remain." A man next to her explained and Keith reached out, taking the four cold, dead blades in his hands and holding back the influx of emotions threatening to take over. Pidge nudged his hip with their elbow and smirked up at him, the closest attempt at emotional support they'd probably ever managed. He smiled back but felt the weight of it pulling down at the edges of his face and cementing his frown back in place.

A few dobashes later, Keith had the blades stored inside Red and was catching backup to the others before their entire team was lead further into the woods. "Um … Ryner? Where are we?" he asked, looking around at nothing but random trees and bushes.

"This is the armoury." They watched as several Olkari placed their hands inside various plants, closing their eyes and transfiguring them into blasters. Another group placed their hands on a tree and a stream of bright light cracked its way up the bark, activating a seedpod and causing it to morph into an elaborate mech suit made of wood.

Lance's eyebrows shot straight up his head and he squeaked out a breathy "cool". Hunk and Shiro stared in open-mouthed shock, while Pidge looked on in glee. Keith was flabbergasted. He wanted one! Those were the coolest things he'd ever seen and he needed to have one.

"Uh, can I get one of those?" He'd asked before realizing it had been out loud.

"Of course. You can each have one." Ryner replied passing them all some weird vine headbands and explaining a bunch of very technical sounding mumbo jumbo that only Pidge seemed to understand. They all excitedly tried to connect to the trees, immediately attempting to create their mech suits.

Only Pidge got to have one.

It was ridiculous to expect a bunch of non-Olkari and non-Pidge's to be able to speak in binary to a tree. At least he still got to ride in one. And, he got to ride with Ryner and Shiro instead of Lance, who went with Hunk and Pidge. Actually, if he couldn't have his own wooden mech suit than this was a pretty decent consolation prize.

After a quick bout of reconnaissance, the team was now meeting back at the forest city to discuss their plan of attack. Shiro had it all worked out. First, they would use Green and her stealth mode to fly Hunk, Lance, Shiro, and himself to the topmost point of the centre tower. Pidge would then fall back to a safe position, where they would monitor the biorhythm sensor and surveillance systems. The four of them were to decend the narrow shaft into the tower, drop the sensor, and set it to detect any Olkari biorhythms. Next, they use the scans to locate King Lubos and any other Olkari being held as prisoners by the Empire soldiers. At which point it was rescue time.

Keith knew this was going to be difficult, not as difficult as storming _Central Quiznaking Command,_ but still far beyond the training their two younger cadets had. Lance and Hunk would have to assist in infiltrating a secure enemy strong hold. It wasn't child's play, but they didn't have a choice. He was confident in his abilities and knew he could complete this mission on his own if he had a long-range weapon backup with him. Preferably Marra since he knew how well they worked as a team. Unfortunate, he got Lance. It was fine; everything would be fine. Lance was surprisingly good at pulling through when needed and, as long as he kept his mouth shut, he made a good partner. Plus (and Keith would _never_ admit to this) Lance was a damn good shot.

When they finally arrived at the 'cell' in which King Lubos was being held, Keith found himself utterly repulsed by the man's very existence. His fat ass was sitting in a fancy chair, eating from a table with an abundance of snacks, and watching some cheesy romance movie. All while one of his own people stood cuffed wearing literal prison rags behind him. King Lubos was no prisoner; he was a traitor.

The blood in his veins boiled. Four Blades had died to protect Olkarion and Lubos had gone ahead and just handed the entire planet over, willingly choosing to create a super weapon for the Empire. But, when the traitor King went and set off an alarm alerting the Empire Commander of their rescue attempt? Keith saw red.

"You turned your back on your people to save your own skin?" Shiro sounded dejected, disappointed that a leader would stoop so low.

"I'm doing this _for_ my people! They wanted to fight the Galra but they are too powerful! The Galra could destroy us!" Lubos tried to justify, his large corpulent frame standing in stark contrast to the slim prisoner next to him. He yelled his supposed defense at Shiro; all the while crumbs of food still littered his tunic.

But Lance wasn't buying it. "So you helped enslave your people to build some super weapon?" he pressed.

"Don't make _me_ the bad guy!" Lubos insisted, further proving that he was beyond reason. "HE forced me to do it!" His arm lifted into the air and one of his fat fingers was pointed at an Empire Commander. The large and imposing Galra smirked, not disputing the accusation in the least. But that didn't justify the King's actions.

Lance picked up on his attitude and mocked him with a jeering, "Did he force-feed you too?" Keith would have snickered at the comment but he was far too angry. Four Blades, FOUR, had died and for what? So this sad excuse of a man could sit on his ass and shove his face full of sweets while the rest of his people suffered? This was unacceptable. He knew how the Empire worked, the Commander would execute the traitor when they got their war cube, but death was too kind of an end for this lump. Keith decided right then and there that he was going to bring Lubos back to his people to face judgement.

He charged at the obese King, activating his bayard and pressing the red and white blade against his throat. "Okay, we're walking out of here!" He shouted at the Commander and his sentries in Galran. "Anyone tries to stop us and Lubos gets it!"

"WHOA! K-Keith!" Shiro sputtered in shock.  
"That came out of nowhere!" Lance punctuated.

Hunk said nothing, but from the corner of his eyes he caught the larger paladin hitting the emergency button on his wrist gauntlet. Keith ignored them. Instead, he maintained eye contact with the Commander. "You don't want me to hurt your genius engineer, right?"

"Oh, be my guest. His work is done. The War Cube is complete." The imposing man replied with a smirk and Lubos lost his mind, sputtering about a deal they had arranged. But he was a fool; you _never_ make deals with the Empire. Once they get what they want, they dispose of any liabilities. Keith rolled his eyes at the fall out and how the oblivious King hadn't expected to be double-crossed. _Moron_.

"Guards, put them all out of their misery!" The Commander ordered and the sentries charged their blasters. Just as they were about to shoot, a bright laser fired across the line of sentries, filling the room with smoke and dust.

_"Your ride is here!"_ Pidge cheerily called over their helmet coms and the large head of the Green Lion appeared in a gaping hole at the side of the room. Running like their lives depended on it; the group darted across the distance and leapt for Green's open mouth. Lance activated his shield and blocked the shots from the sentries, while Hunk and Shiro carefully helped the prisoner, and Keith half dragged Lubos into the lion.

* * *

Shiro unceremoniously threw the disgraced Lubos to the ground at the feet of Ryner. A crowd had gathered to celebrate the rescue of their King and Keith reveled in the fact that they would _all_ hear of his betrayal. In the end Ryner had spoken to the man in a disappointed tone but that was it. The young Blade gawked at her, completely at a loss for words that the other had gotten off so easily. Maybe he should have just left the lump behind for the Commander to deal with. He was going to keep that thought to himself.

Once again, Shiro rallied the spirit of the locals, urging them to join Voltron in driving out the Empire from their Planet. The Olkari took on the Empire soldiers while Voltron targeted the War Cube.

It was unlike anything they had ever gone up against. No matter what they did, the Cube just shot it right back at them. They tried blasting it and nearly decimated their shields, they tried slicing it and only multiplied their opponents, and Lance even tried blasting it with the Blue Lion's ice ray only to end up being a Lance-cicle in the end. Keith had used Red's flamethrower to melt Blue's face but ultimately, Voltron couldn't contend with what was now four War Cubes.

They disbanded, splitting up into their lions and trying to attack from multiple angles. But nothing was working. It wasn't long before Pidge was caught between twin bolts of electricity, a cube on either side, causing the Green Lion to fall back to the forest and crash somewhere out of their sights. Shiro had called out but there was no response. They had to keep fighting though, no matter how badly he wanted to go down there and check on his friend, Keith had to fight. Those cubes were going to destroy Olkarion if they weren't defeated.

They held their own for nearly 20 dobashes. Keith had been hit by a weaker blast of electricity, sending Red crashing down to the surface, but not taking her out of commission. Hunk and Yellow were thrown from the sky by a large blast. Lance and Blue were forced down by a pursuing cube. And Shiro slammed Black down hard as the horde closed in on them.

_"Guys, hang on!" _Pidge called over their coms and the Green Lion shot out of the forest crown. She moved faster than Keith had ever seen, not as fast as Red but certainly much faster than the other three lions. It was like Pidge had connected with Green on a level they hadn't reached before. He felt the purr of confirmation from Red and smiled in pride at his friend.

They streaked across the sky, dodging the Cubes blasts and retaliating with some of their own. Green fired a beam from a canon that materialized on her back and massive vines burst from one of the cubes. Pidge circled the other three, taking each one down in the same way and coming to land in front of the team as the now defeated cubes fell back to the surface.

_"Vines!"_ Hunk chuckled. _"Well, that is not the way I thought a giant cube of death would go down."_

* * *

The Olkari had been successful in taking back their city, and Keith watched as the Empire cruiser fled the planet. To flee a battle was a great act of cowardice. That Commander was not in for a good time when he would inevitably have to explain their exit from Olkarion to Emperor Zarkon. Keith was willing to bed that man would find himself in the Gladiator pits or as a subject for the witch to experiment on. He shuddered at the thought.

They said their good byes, Ryner promising to always be there to answer the call should Voltron require the Olkari's assistance, and the Lions took off back for the castle. In a way, he was a little disappointed that they didn't share what King Lubos' fate would be, but he supposed it really wasn't any of his business. Still … he hoped whatever it was; it hurt.

When they arrived back in their hangars, each of the Paladins rushed for the bridge to congratulate Pidge for their success. It was mostly their Green Paladin who won the day for them. Pidge took the praise in stride, ever the humble one when it counted.

"Well that was a productive trip. Look at all these cubes they gave me!" Coran threw his old cube in the air, splitting it into 8 separate pieces and commanding it to echo him once again. A chorus of { Coran, Coran, the gorgeous man } resonated off the walls of the bridge and only Allura resisted the urge to groan, though she did shoot the advisor an exasperated look. "Ahh, sounds pretty good." { Ahh, sounds pretty good }

Hunk made a weird fart-like sound with his lips, which also echoed around the room, and Shiro rolled his eyes at him. But before the adult could scold their Yellow Paladin, the proximity alarm went off.

"What's that?" { What's that? } Coran questioned, with the cubes echoing his words.

Before anyone could move, Emperor Zarkon's Central Command fleet flew out of hyper drive. The imposing silhouette covered each screen on the bridge and a collective gasp was heard throughout the room.

"It's Zarkon!" The Princess announced. "How did he find us?"

"His Commander must've contacted him from Olkarion." Keith suggested. It was the only way the Emperor could possibly know where they were so quickly. Shiro took charge immediately, ordering them all to their stations and directing Allura to wormhole the castle away from the imminent danger. But the sheer volume of fighter pods was too great. There was no way to wormhole away without at least hundreds of them making it through with the castle.

Keith, Lance, and Shiro activated their remote battle drones, laying down covering fire from their paladin chairs. The problem with this was that the team had practiced working together countess times in their lions and on the training deck, but they had NEVER practiced with the battle drones. And their lack of coordination really showed as he and Lance flew their drones into one another multiple times.

They each had a job to do but they were not machines. Pidge and Hunk had more technical tasks and the lack of rest was wearing on the latter. He struggled to focus on the intricate details displayed on his screen, complaining that everything was beginning to blur in his sleep-addled brain.

"I know we just came off an intense battle, but we've got to stay focused, just until we jump." Shiro implored. He tried his best to urge the crew to give it their all but it was difficult to do when their all had _just_ been given to fight off those cubes.

"And when is that?" Keith snarked back; exhaustion playing at his patience.

It was Coran who answered. "They're still too close! We need to gain more speed!" But _how_ was the real question. He looked at his console, reading the Altean configurations displayed there. The engines were at their maximum output, and the Balmeran crystal was already fully engaged. Keith racked his brain for a solution. The ship was large enough that the hits from the fighter pods wouldn't do too much damage on their own, and the castle should be able to out run the Emperor's Command ship. But running on full power for extended amounts of time really wears on the engines.

Allura's voiced pulled him from his thoughts, shouting out an absolutely brilliant plan. "I'm going to use this moon's gravity to gain speed and put some distance between us and Zarkon."

It worked. They gained enough space to wormhole away, but the ludicrous speeds put too much stress on the Teludav, forcing them to make an early exit.

"We didn't make it to our exit point, but we're several galaxies from Zarkon's fleet." Coran responded but the relief was short lived as an exhausted Allura collapsed. The entire crew responded, Keith included, running up to check on the Princess and ensure that she was okay.

In an instant absolute chaos descended on the bridge. Allura didn't have the energy to create another wormhole, the paladins were starting to fall asleep where they stood, and Coran had a nasty case of the slipperies. Keith had read about the age related illness but hadn't thought Coran was old enough to develop it. Evidently, the mustachioed ginger had aged rather gracefully. Still, having the slipperies was incredibly gross and incredibly inconvenient. Especially with the Emperor hot on their tail.

"Ugh, I'm so tired my brain's not working." Pidge groaned, rubbing their temples.

"Yea, neither is mine." Lance agreed and Keith snickered muttering, "didn't notice a difference" under his breath and catching Hunk smother a snort.

It didn't take long before Coran was calling the bridge, having left to check the systems from the engine room. He informed them that, as suspected, the fighter pods didn't inflict much damage. However, when they entered the wormhole at those crazy speeds it had cracked and fractured several of the scaultrite lens-stones. All it took was the mention of scaultrite and Keith was blanching and pulling faces.

"Is something wrong?" Shiro asked with mock concern, annoyed by his juvenile display.

"The Teladuv uses lenses made from scaultrite?" he asked Coran and the man nodded on the screen. "Are there any extra's in the storage rooms down in the lower levels?"

_"I'm afraid not."_ Keith groaned at the worst. News. Ever.

"Shot NOT being the one who has to go inside a quiznaking Weblum!" He called out, crossing his arms over his chest in a definitive stance. He'd been there; he'd done that - never again!

"Oh, we shouldn't need _that_ much scaultrite. Nothing a little trip to a swaaaaaa-" And just like that the line disconnected as Coran slipped on his own excretions and slammed his forehead against the control panel. Keith rolled his eyes but snorted nonetheless.

"What's a Weblum?" Hunk asked.

With a dismissive hand wave and a passive tone, he replied. "Giant worm that eats planets and has a deadly acid laser in its face." Hunk paled at the description, sputtering about never, _ever _going in one and Keith nodded his assent.

"Alright team, we'll hide the ship here and get some rest while Coran comes up with a work-around for the wormholes." Shiro announced, redirecting everyone's attention back to the situation at hand. "Tomorrow we'll be sharper and refocused." With that the team disbanded.

* * *

"Whatcha gunna do with your free time?" Keith overheard Lance ask Hunk while the four paladins headed for their rooms. Shiro had opted to stay on the bridge and assist Allura, much to Lance's disdain.

"I'm going to try and learn some Altean!" Pidge cut in before the big guy could answer. "It's built into the training deck software. Which, not gunna lie – kinda weird! Like, why would language learning be on the training deck?" They puzzled and Keith tried his absolute damnedest not to laugh. Should he warn them, or try to watch?

"Well _I'm _going see if I can flood the decontamination chamber and go for a swim!" Lance answered, clearly proud of his idiotic plans. Keith rolled his eyes.

"Why not just use the pool dipshit."

"THERE'S A POOL?" The Blue Paladin shrieked and he felt the chuckle escape against his will. Nodding in confirmation, he watched as the Cuban's entire face lit up with excitement. "Oh man, this is going to be sweet! Hunk, buddy, you gotta come with me!"

"Can't, I'm heading to the kitchen to bake some cookies before I crash for a much needed nap." He replied before putting himself squarely on Keith's hit list with his follow up response. "Take Keith with you." If looks could kill they would be down a Yellow Paladin right now.

"Nah, Keith's no fun. He probably can't even swim!" _WHAT?_ They argued back and forth about who was a better swimmer, each turning to their friend for support when they realized both Pidge and Hunk had ditched them. _Dicks._ He though, before immediately remembering he hadn't had a chance to warn the Gremlin about turning off the safety on the language tutorial. Oh well, serves them right.

* * *

Keith changed into the red and white swim trunks in his room and grabbed a towel before heading down to the pool. Throwing the towel over his head to free up his hands, he wandered in a zombie like state through the hall, his earlier exhaustion catching back up to him. Briefly he wondered if maybe turning around and going to bed would be a better use of his time, but he couldn't let Lance think he chickened out of the race he'd been challenged to. So Keith trudged on and caught the elevator door just as it was closing.

He pried it back open to reveal Lance standing before him in a matching pair of blue swim trunks. He had a towel draped around his neck that was falling onto his chest, his bare chest. His bare, toned chest. Oh quiznak – maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

The door shut behind him and the other boy gave him a strange look. "Take a picture, it'll last longer." He condescendingly remarked.

"Why would I want a picture of you, Lance?" Keith replied as sarcastically as possible, trying desperately to look anywhere _but_ at the half naked, slim, perfectly tanned, lightly toned, smooth, fresh-smelling body next to him. Shit, he was so screwed. "Look, you stay on one side of the pool and I'll stay on the other, and we'll be far, far away from each other – very … far ... away."

Suddenly the entire castle jostled and they were plunged into instant darkness. "Uh, what was that? I can't see anything other than your freaky eyes." Lance unhelpfully, and offensively, commented.

"Gee thanks, Lance." He rolled his eyes and looked around them. On the wall at the base of the panel was an emergency power button. He pushed it but nothing happened, so naturally, he pushed it 20 more times. Finally the lights came back on and he stood up, turning around to face the pain-in-the-ass behind him. "Okay, we need to get out of here. There's an emergency hatch up there -" he pointed up above their heads "- we just need to climb up to it."

"Okay and how do you suppose we do that, genius?"

"You're just full of compliments today aren't you?" He sassed right back and watched a set of sapphires roll in their sockets. "Look we can climb up the walls by pressing back to back." Lance sighed but nodded in agreement.

This was a bad idea. They were halfway up the wall and Lance kept screwing them up. Finally Keith had enough. "It's right, _then _left. You're off!"

"You're off! And shoving too hard!" the Blue Paladin replied, pushing back with all of his might and sending Keith face first towards the wall.

"You're not shoving hard enough!" he responded by pushing back just as hard.

"I should be at the pool right now!" Lance pouted.

Keith rolled his eyes and groaned. "Would you stop whining?" he threw back.

Eventually they made it to the panel at the top, kicking it open and sliding down the vent shaft to the poolroom. Except, he'd forgotten what Coran had said regarding the pool, and the sudden shift in gravity had them landing hard on their tailbones. Which hurt, a lot, and did nothing for the general mood of the room.

"WHAT THE HECK?" Lance screeched upon seeing the water floating above their heads.

"Ughhhh" he groaned again. "Stupid Altean pools!" Another jostle to the castle, this one substantially larger than the last, found them being scooped up by the water and deposited with a heavy thud in another section of the room. This time, the unrest wasn't a result of Coran fixing the Teladuv.

_"Paladins! We're under attack! To your stations!"_ The Princess called over the coms and the two boys ran as fast as they could – using a different elevator this time.

Rushing into the bridge they were greeted by the sight of Emperor Zarkon's Command Fleet once again. "They found us again?" Lance voiced his exasperation. "How is that possible? _IS_ that possible? That doesn't seem possible!" He continued to screech as they pulled up their individual console screens.

"Right, now we must figure out a way to get out of here." Allura voiced and Coran's desperate form slid across the screen, slamming into something out of their view. It sounded painful though.

_"Uh, guys? I think I'm realizing now that I do, in fact, have a case of the slipperies. I'm sorry I yelled at you Pidge. I may need your help after all."_ He practically sobbed into the com as he struggled to get back up, slipping numerous times on his own excretions. Keith shuddered; glad he wasn't the one who had to go down there.

They used the drones again, calling out if anyone spotted something outside the other's field of view. The team was moving much more fluidly, that tiny bit of down time they'd all received really doing a number for their cooperation.

"What's going on?" Lance once again whined. "I lost control of my defence drone!"

"I've got you covered." Keith moved his drone to the middle of their shared range; arriving in position only to watch his controls dissolve before him. "Uh, I don't got you." He replied in confusion. "There must be a system failure!"

_"Nope! That was us!" _Pidge popped up on the screen, startling him and earning twin shrieks from the Blue and Yellow Paladins. _"We're diverting power from non-essential systems to get the wormhole generator working."_

"DEFENCE IS PRETTY ESSENTIAL!" Lance screamed, jumping from his chair and looking far less commanding than intended while wearing bright blue swim trunks.

_"Okay, try it! We should be able to make one very small jump … I hope!" _Coran yelled as the particle barrier went down, its power also being diverted.

The wormhole opened before them and, as quickly as it popped up, they were already exiting it. This time it was right into the heart of a massive electrical storm.

"Zarkon keeps finding us. It's like he knows how to track us down." Shiro suggested, his tone dark and tired. "Maybe he planted some sort of tracking device."

Allura immediately began typing angrily. "Well it's nothing on the ship; the castle would have detected any tracking devises."

"Until we figure out exactly how he's doing it, we should assume that he could show up at any minute. So stay alert." He commanded to a missing green paladin, exhausted red and blue paladins, and a snoring yellow paladin. A particularly loud snore woke said paladin with a start and Hunk shouted in terror, wondering what had happened.

"You woke yourself up snoring." Keith deadpanned.

* * *

They'd decided to hide in the eye of the massive storm, but it hadn't changed anything. Somehow the Emperor still managed to find them. There was no way it could possibly be through any known means of technology, there was nothing in existence that could penetrate that electro-magnetic storm. He wondered if may be the Emperor was able to track his Blade communicator, but then hiding in the storm would have worked, which it hadn't.

Keith racked his over tired brain, trying to think of _how_ they were being found so quickly each time, when Allura piped up. "It's me." She said. "It's been me all along."


	12. Isolating The Variable

**ISOLATING THE VARIABLE**

"It's me. It's been me all along." The princess stared down at the pillars her hands were currently sitting atop. The slight tremble in her grip was barely noticeable but he still managed to catch it. "That's how they found us on Planet Arus." Her fears made sense; Keith had to admit that it did explain a lot. But as Mr. Holt used to say: _"Correlation does not imply causation." _And he had just as many reasons her theory could be wrong.

"It doesn't matter, princess. We're in this together and we're gunna get out together." Shiro announced before Keith could say anything.

The plan was simple enough: form Voltron, lure the Emperor's Central Command away from the Castle of Lions, let Allura get into open space, then wormhole away. The biggest problem was the state of the Teludav. According to Coran, each scaultrite lens-stone would need to take the equivalent of five beams. It was incredibly risky, but it was their only shot.

Keith raced to his lion and Red opened her mighty jaws before he even had to ask. "Good Kitty" He purred, taking his place in the pilot seat and flying out to meet the others. Shiro was the first, followed by Keith with Pidge and Lance immediately behind him, and finally Hunk a tic or two after that. They flew out from the relative safety of the eye and into the raging storm surrounding them.

"Alright team, _Form Voltron!"_ Shiro commanded and the legendary robot took shape.

Together, as Voltron, they dodged debris and evaded the Empire fighter pods. Flying further and further into the storm to lead them away from the Castle. Shiro called for their shields from Pidge, extra power to the thrusters from Lance and Hunk, and their sword from Keith. They sliced their way through the various projectiles and eventually blasted free of the storm entirely. Inside the chaos, Red's sensors had been going wild but once they were clear of the super cell below them, it was peaceful inside the lion.

That peace lasted all of 3 tics before Emperor Zarkon tried to take control of the Black Lion once again. He had a feeling this would happen and, when Shiro ordered them to fall back, it was already too late. He should have spoken up sooner, he should have voiced his concern about Black back on the bridge, but he didn't and now they had to fight against the hate-fueled presence of the corrupted Emperor.

Keith tried to focus, tired to offer his support to Shiro and urge Black to resist, but it was no use. He sat back in Red, _Help me connect to your brother_, he begged her and the resulting purr pulled him deep into a trance.

Everything was fire. He stood amongst the flames and watched as they licked across his body. He could feel their heat surrounding him, a comforting and empowering warmth. The smell of smoke and embers hung in the astral plane and Keith lifted his right arm, watching as the flames swirled in the wake of his movement to wrap around the appendage like a caress. The heat of the fire burned inside him, he could feel it fueling his very being and it felt familiar. He'd had this fire with him since the day he was born, Red had always been there, he just hadn't known it was her. And now, in this place, she surrounded him inside and out. Her flames, his fire, their shared passion; together creating the inferno that blazed unquenchably around him. But it wasn't Red he was here to see.

Turning, he felt the cool sensation as it whispered past his face. _Blue._ She too was familiar; he'd spent his youngest years in her protective shadow. The smell of salt and something fresh yet crisp found its way to the foreground of his mind, chasing away the heated smoke of the embers. Cold waves lapped at his ankles and he could see the water swirling around his feet. A shiver snaked up his back and Keith missed the fire, he missed the passion of Red. Blue was a calming essence, not the rush of adrenaline and desire he was used to, but instead a cool breath of fresh air and a loving understanding. Red pushed him to be better than he was, she urged him to test his limits and break through barriers. But Blue felt like she was trying to hold his hand, guide him to the right path, and her very presence made him feel like she had his back. Is this what Lance felt? No wonder he was so fond of his Lion. It was nice, it was comforting, but it wasn't what Keith wanted. He didn't want his hand held, he wanted to driven to excellence. Red's responding purr immediately pulled him back to her blaze.

The familiar flames wrapped around him and he felt Red's heat in his very bones, the blood in his veins responding to her. _It's Black I need._ He urged and ignored the feeling of safety and protection that accompanied a musky-earthy smell. Yellow shrank back, his stability giving way to the prodding of Green as she came swooping in to replace her brother. Vines crawled up his body and the exotic scent of a rain forest threatened to over take the exhilarating smoke Keith he loved so dearly. _BLACK, _he pressed and the vines retreated, leaving him to his beloved inferno.

The flames gave way to nothingness, absolute nothingness. Here should be Black, the twinkling cosmos spanning all around and a calming sense of duty and focus. But instead it was nothingness. Endless nothingness. Keith took a step into the void and ran abruptly against a blockage; a wall of energy prevented him from going any further. He wasn't Black's Paladin, he hadn't been chosen by the Lion, but this wall shouldn't be there. He should be able to connect to him like he had with the other lions. Black was their leader, the head of Voltron, and the one that linked them all to one another. _This wall shouldn't be here!_

A blast from the Castle of Lions hit the Emperor's Command Ship and broke his grasp on the Black Lion; it also jolted Keith back to reality. _"Paladins, now's your chance! Get out of there!" _Allura called over their coms and Keith had to force himself back to the present. He could puzzle over the barrier later.

_"I forgot how intense Zarkon's connection to the Black Lion is. We have to keep our distance or risk losing Voltron."_ Shiro rationalized. _"Let's disband and get back to the Castle."_ The rushed through the thick storm clouds, racing against the various Empire pods. They reached the Castle of Lions and flew into their respective hangars, prepared for an immediate get away. Except, nothing happened.

"Why haven't we wormholed yet?" He inquired over the coms only to have an incredibly agitated Coran yell at him about the scaultrite lens-stones.

_"Sloven-dae-ho!"_ Coran shouted into the screen. Keith pulled his brows at the Altean words; Coran was being incredibly dramatic. Actually, yeah, that tracked.

_"What the quiznak does 'sovereign-day-old' even mean?"_

"It's 'sloven-dae-ho' Lance." He snickered. "And it means 'into oblivion'. Basically, it's overly dramatic Altean for 'the scaultrite lens-stones are pretty much done'."

_"Wait, did you say 'scaultrite'? I've seen that somewhere before."_ Pidge jumped in. _"I think Hunk was making some terrible cookies-" "HEY!" _Hunk objected in the background_ "-from that stuff!"_ Pidge continued undeterred.

Sure enough, after they exited their lions and met up in the engine room, Coran confirmed that Hunk's cookies contained scaultrite. They were now arranged in the most absurd positions, perched precariously inside the Teludav, and holding said 'cookies' steadily in carefully calculated locations. One wrong move, one slip from their exact spots, and all five paladins would be vaporized by the beam.

"Wait, Coran! How dangerous is this?" Hunk asked and Keith had to roll his eyes. They were literally balanced inside a giant laser chamber holding onto cookies! He was pretty sure the answer to that was: _very!_

"Honestly, this is the most dangerous thing I've ever seen, or heard of, but since we're probably going to die anyways, WHAT THE HECK! LET'S GIVE IT A SHOT!" The eccentric Altean shouted back at them, instilling confidence in absolutely none of his helpers.

Their first jump attempt didn't work and Coran had to shine the lens-stones with the excretions 'the slipperies' provided. It was honestly disgusting and Keith was surprised Hunk didn't vomit. The Princess continued her count down over the coms as he worked. Before he was ready, time was already up so Coran quickly tucked himself away behind the wall of stones to avoid being in the line of fire. Keith watched as the laser built up its charge, and the moment it fired he felt the incredible rush.

The force of the beam hitting the cookie in his hand sent a shock wave radiating up his arm, and Keith had to actively push against the pressure to keep the disc in position. His right arm was outstretched, holding the disc in the precisely calculated location, while his left arm and left leg were holding him place. Unlike the others, Lance and Keith did not get to sit on the steady floor. The former was hanging upside down by his knees, holding two discs in a way that they replaced five cracked ones at the top. While Keith was half hanging, half stretching from the uppermost side.

He had one foot tucked behind a secured disc by the ankle, a firm grip securely in place atop another disc, and his right foot fully extended to press against a third disc for support. All of this meant that, provided they weren't jostled _too_ much, his weight was evenly distributed amongst his grips. Keith was confident in his ability to hold his position; he'd been through something similar during training with the Blades when he was younger and had fared rather well.

Kolivan brought himself, Regris, Marra, Zavin, and Fayz to a planet whose name he couldn't remember anymore. He knew the planet was inhabited, but the locals lived on a large continent of solid, and relatively stable, ground close to the Southern pole. The Blade pods landed on an island in the Northern hemisphere and thus, never risked exposure. The island wasn't a warm sunny beach with refreshing waves, instead it was a barren and volatile wasteland surrounded by deadly boiling acid. It was not a planet one would describe as paradise.

They'd been given a set of crisscrossing bars and instructed to position themselves in such a way that they felt confident in their ability to stay in place for as long as possible. Kolivan had then moved the large set of bars to span a crack in the crust, dangling the kits above the boiling acid below. Though Keith had no way of knowing at the time, the Leader of the Blade of Marmora had several safety measures in place. Fail-safes such as: three layers of netting to catch them, an emergency rescue team on standby, and acid resistant fibers in their suits. He'd held on for longer than everyone, except Regris; the latter's tail giving him an edge. And when Keith did fall, it was nearly a varga after the others.

So all in all, Keith hadn't been too concerned about his ability to hold position whilst in the Teludav, but he had been worried about the others. Particularly Hunk who had to hold his legs in the air as steady as possible, and also Pidge who looked far from comfortable in their low-lying crouch with outstretched arms.

"Great work, team! We made it!" He heard Allura's pleased voice as the heavy barrier to the Teludav opened and Lance promptly fell face first from his perch.

The Blue Paladin groaned painfully as he sat back up. "Well, that was rough!"

"Yea, I vote we never do that again!" Pidge seconded. "All in favour say 'aye'." There was a series of incoherent grumbles and Pidge adjusted their glasses, giving a firm nod. "The groans have it. Never again!"

"I don't know - it was kind of a rush!" He countered, much to the chagrin of the four Humans and Coran.

"Did the laser fry your brain, Mullet?" Keith rolled his eyes at Lance but before he could respond, the princess was already directing them all back to the bridge.

* * *

The team was huddled in the middle of the large room, Allura sitting on her podium, and the others surrounding her. Keith leaned against the Red Paladin chair, separate from the group, but no less involved in the conversation. "There's no point in debating this further." Allura announced. "Zarkon, is clearly tracking us through me." A series of rebuffs sounded out as everyone rejected her conclusion. "Why would that be so hard to believe? Zarkon's forces showed up on Arus only after I awoke."

"She's got a point." Lance agreed. "I would absolutely travel across the galaxy to find you." Keith nearly gagged. Instead, he settled for rolling his eyes so hard he gave himself a headache.

"Okay look, if the Emperor can track you through your Altean quintessence, than he could probably track me through my Galran quintessence, or Shiro through his prosthetic." Keith crossed his arms, he knew he was most likely scowling but it might actually help to drive home his point. "I vote that Emperor Zarkon is tracking the Black Lion. Commander Sendak didn't show up until AFTER Black was awoken and every time we get close to the Emperor he tries to take control of the lion. _His former lion!" _Keith explained, throwing his arms in frustration. "It could be you, it could be me, or Shiro, but it's probably Black!"

"No Paladin has ever been able to connect with a lion over a vast distance." Coran countered. But Keith knew that wasn't true. He'd connected to Red multiple times before even becoming her Paladin and to assume the Emperor wasn't capable of the same was foolish.

"Look it doesn't matter how he's tracking us, because we're gonna take the fight to the Galra soon enough." Shiro asserted, once again speaking to the group before Keith had a chance to voice his own thoughts. "They've been chasing us from galaxy to galaxy, the last thing they expect is for us to come after them."

Keith frowned, which quickly turned into a confused expression as he tried to find anyway in which that wasn't a terrible plan. "The hunter becomes the hunted, hmm? Awesome!" Lance immediately spoke up. "That's like, the tagline from six of my favourite movies!" He was looking at Keith when he spoke the last line, as if the Galra Halfling had any idea which Earth movies he could possibly be talking about. Keith rolled his eyes.

At some point in Shiro's speech the tiny Green Gremlin had made their way over to their console, pulling up the screens and typing in a series of commands. It was from the Green Paladin chair that their voice now wafted, pulling the attention of the other occupants on the bridge. "As it happens, I took our list of recent Galra attacks and analyzed it for both commonalities and anomalies among the attack sites, while simultaneously cross referencing it with the data provided by Keith's organization, the Blade of Marmora. I was hoping to create an algorithm that would, within a statistically acceptable margin of error, provide a list of target-rich Galra environments – colour coded, of course, because what are we, animals?"

The feverish typing slowed to a normal level and the massive star chart appeared around them on the bridge. Various planets and systems were highlighted, and the English notes alongside Altean location names made the whole thing look even more intense than it had before. When Allura had initially displayed this map back on Arus, it wasn't nearly as detailed as the new version Pidge had modified.

"Cool … What is it again?" Lance commented, pulling the thoughts directly out of most of their heads.

"It's a Galra finder?" Hunk clarified and Keith scowled at him, then at Pidge. If they had used his tech and data to create a way of tracking his species Keith was going to be pissed!

"Well, 'finder' suggests that it locates the Galra, whereas it would be more accurate to say that my model predicts their likeliest …" The Green Paladin paused mid explanation to take in the blank stares and perplexed expressions of the room before simply conceding. "Fine. It's a Galra finder." They pouted.

"Sooo where are the Galra?" Lance asked and Keith immediately spoke up.

"Well, there's one right here." He crossed his arms with a huff as all eyes turned to look at him in a mix of shock and confusion. "Seriously, can you guys just say 'the Empire' or even 'the Galra Empire' instead of just 'the Galra' cause it's getting real old, real quick. Unless your program tracks biology, it's an Empire predictor, not a GALRA tracker or else it would be beeping right now!"

"You're right, Keith." Allura addressed and turned back to the smallest of their group. "Pidge, where does your program say the _Empire_ will be?" He nodded at her in appreciation and turned back to the star chart before him, watching as a planet lit up bright red and a series of English notes appeared.

"The nearest ones are right here. A planet called Taujeer." Keith furrowed his brow, the name sounded familiar but he couldn't place why. Maybe he'd been sent there on a mission with the Blades once? Most likely!

"Then that's where we're headed. Everyone should get some sleep. Tomorrow, we'll find that Galra – er _Empire_, fleet and take it out!" Shiro commanded and smiled kindly at Keith, proud of himself for his on-the-spot correction. Keith smiled in return and held back the eye roll that wanted desperately to escape. Instead, he followed the group out of the bridge and returned to his room.

* * *

Keith sat on his bed debating between heading for the training deck to help Coran with repairs, heading for the pools to swim laps, or just going to bed. In the end, all three options lost as he put on his Paladin armour and made his way to the Princess' room. They needed to figure out how the Emperor was tracking them once and for all. The quickest way to do that was by removing certain variables.

He knocked on her door but there was no answer. He knocked harder and still, nothing. _What would I do if I were Allura?_ He thought to himself, slowly making his way down the hall. _Think, Keith, think!_

It wasn't long before he found himself in the main hangar with a bag of supplies. The Princess was a little stuck up and self absorbed, but she often times shared the same thought process he did. If he'd thought Emperor Zarkon was tracking him, Keith would have tried to sequester himself from the others. It was what he had gone to her room to suggest after all.

A dobash or two passed and he heard the doors opening, followed by footfalls far too light to belong to any of the Humans. Hiding behind one of the pod's engines, he waited until he was 100% certain of the others identity, catching a glimpse of white hair as a fleeing Allura tried to climb into the large pod.

"Princess, what are you doing here?" He asked, stepping out from his hiding place much to her shock. She froze for a tic and jumped higher than he'd expected, losing her balance and falling backwards off the side of the pod – directly into his waiting arms. Keith stared at her with a blank expression, and she was standing beside him blushing before he'd even finished rolling his eyes. A devilish thought crossed his mind; Lance would be so jealous. He couldn't wait to play this up and watch the other lose his mind.

"Oh! I might ask you the same thing." She countered, though the slight waver to her voice gave away her surprise.

"Waiting for you." He answered matter-of-factly then promptly winced at the way it must have sounded. "I – uh, I mean, I was waiting to speak with you."

"In full Paladin armour? With a bag of your belongings?" She attempted to call him out.

"Actually, these are provisions. I know you think Emperor Zarkon is tracking us through you. And I had a feeling you'd try to sneak out – so I came here to intercept you." She blushed at his confession, and how right he had proven to be. "Look, Princess, I know we've had our differences but I cant let you go out there on your own. I agree that separating you and the Black Lion is the fastest way to find out which one is the Emperor's conduit. Black has Shiro and the other paladins to back him up, you'll have me."

She stared at him for a moment, processing his offer and finally gave a small smile. "If you were Altean I'd pull you into a hug for your consideration of my safety."

"Yea, well – don't." He rubbed at the back of his neck and awkwardly shot his glance off to the side. Physical contact was soooo not an option with Allura. A quiet chuckle sounded from the Princess as they climbed into the pod. Keith placed his bag of weapons and food into the storage area in the back of the cabin and climbed into the pilot's seat.

"What makes you think you're piloting this craft? It's an Altean pod and I happen to be the only Altean between us." He quirked his brow at her protest. _Really_?

"Allura, I can fly circles around you. This may be an Altean pod, but _no one_ flies like a Galra. Don't argue – just get in the passenger seat." She huffed slightly but conceded and climbed in beside him. A quick systems check and they were on their way. Keith hit the throttle as hard as possible the moment they cleared the hangar and he may have done a barrel roll to freak out the Princess in the process.

They'd flown for nearly two vargas in relative silence before Allura finally spoke up. "You don't think they'll be mad about this do you?"

He let out a snicker of surprise. "Yeah, I imagine they'll be pretty pissed." He poked with a smirk. "Especially Coran and Lance."

"Yes, Coran can be quite protective and Lance can be … well …"

"_Lance_?" He cut in.

"Yes, Lance can be quite _Lance_." They both chuckled at the Blue Paladin's expense before she continued. "He's quite persistent isn't he?" Keith nodded. "Was he always this way? Or am I an exception?"

"Do you want to be?" He asked, masking his voice and trying to keep it as level as possible. Lance was hot, but he was a pain in the ass and Keith _did not_ have a slight crush on him. Nope!

"What? No – I, I merely meant – oh, I don't know what I meant!" Allura buried her blush behind her hands and Keith snorted. It took almost another 40 dobashes before she dared to speak again. "You knew each other before finding the Blue Lion didn't you? What was he like?"

"I don't know – loud and obnoxious, but friendly enough I guess. Lance is very …"

"_Lance_?" She giggled, repeating his early description.

"Yeah." He chuckled back. "That's really the best way to describe him. One of a kind! But I didn't really know him very well."

"I thought you all went to the same learning academy." She puzzled.

"Well, yeah, we did. But it was a pretty big school and we weren't all in the same classes or grades or whatever. We were all Cadets and Shiro was an Officer; I only know him as well as I do because of a mentor-ship program. Pidge is the little sister of my friend Matt -"

"The Human boy that was taken with Shiro by the Galra?" She interrupted and he scowled at her.

"Yes – Matt was taken by the _Empire_ when he went on a mission to Kerberos with his father and Shiro." She blushed and had the decency to look apologetic for her slip-up so he continued. "Hunk was a friend at the Garrison, not a _close_ friend, but still a friend. And Lance had declared me his rival, decided he didn't like me, and in general just made my life difficult." He thought about it for a moment and amended his statement slightly. "He was never overtly rude or mean-spirited, just kind of a pain in the ass you know? But I wasn't on Earth very long, so I didn't have much time to really get to know the other Paladins, aside from Shiro."

The princess nodded, turning to look out the window and stare at the stars as they passed by. "I some times wonder if any of my childhood friends survived the invasion. If perhaps any of them were off planet at the time of Zarkon's attack."

"They would have been hunted down by Prince Lotor." He replied before thinking and Allura's head whipped around so quickly he'd be surprised if she didn't give herself whiplash.

"WHAT?" She shrieked at him. "Elaborate. Immediately!"

"Well, according to history, Prince Lotor was ordered by Emperor Zarkon to hunt down and exterminate any Alteans who had survived and were hiding amongst other populations. Since Alteans are able to blend in with the locals, they were particularly hard to find." Allura's brow was furrowed tightly and her mouth was pursed into a hard line yet she didn't interrupt, so he continued. "But it was easier for the Prince to find them since he's half Altean and-"

"WHAT?!" She screamed at full volume – in the tiny enclosed pod – right beside him. He hissed at her and jammed a finger into his ear to stop the ringing.

"Okay, Ow!" he snapped.

"Prince Lotor? Half Altean? What are you talking about? I don't remember Zarkon having a son!"

"Well, no – he wasn't born yet. The whole reason the Emperor went crazy was because of exposure to pure quintessence. His wife, Empress Honerva, was pregnant when they entered the rift." Allura gasped, her hand flying to her mouth in shock. "It wasn't long after Altea was destroyed that she gave birth to Prince Lotor."

"So, when we defeat Zarkon, his replacement will be half Altean?" Keith stared at her, taking in the strange expression that seemed to be trying to suppress a flutter of hope. He hated to be the one to crush it.

"Prince Lotor is just as corrupted as his father. Trust me when I say that the best thing for the Universe is for that entire lineage to die out."

"But he's Altean!"

"No, he's Galra, he just happens to have some Altean in his blood. Prince Lotor is like me. He has one Galra parent and one non-Galra parent but was raised in Galran traditions and customs with the Galran language and value system. Except, where I learned the old ways of Daibazaal, Prince Lotor was brainwashed by the propaganda his father was blasting out." Keith watched her expression fall and felt slightly bad, but it had to be done. "He hunted down and eradicated the remaining Alteans, luring them out of hiding and slaughtering them. He's power hungry and vicious. Allura, he can't be trusted."

"You speak as if he's still alive." She said quietly, her voice an emotionless question that barely showed any influx or variation of tone.

"He is. Like I said, the Emperor wasn't the only one affected by the pure quintessence of the rift." She didn't react to his revelation, merely turning to face the window again.

This time, the silence stretched into what would be the start of the Castle's simulated day cycle and it was the sound of Coran's voice over the coms that broke the long established silence.

"_Princess, Keith, where are you?"_

"Exactly where we should be, far away from the Castle." Allura spoke into the com, her voice clear as a bell even with her face still displaying the warring emotions.

Shiro answered her; his voice clipped and annoyed _"What? Why?"_

"I must know if Zarkon is tracking me. Keith predicted my plan and offered to come along as backup."

_"They're isolating the variable."_ Pidge elaborated.

_"In English, please?"_ Lance interrupted and Keith could hear the Green Paladin groan from over the com, it made him smirk.

_"In order to test a hypothesis -" _

_"I said English!"_

_"- UGHH! Never Mind!"_ Pidge grumbled. He could just picture it, they probably had their arms crossed, a pout on their face, and defiant slump to the way they most likely threw themselves back in their chair. He suppressed a snort.

"Pidge is right. If Zarkon finds you despite my absence, we will know with total certainty that I am not the one he is tracking." Allura finished and Shiro's very annoyed voice came over the com once again.

_"Splitting up the group makes us far more vulnerable. Come back to the Castle immediately."_ He gave his command but the energy around Allura shifted. Keith watched as she hardened, sitting up straighter in her seat and squaring her shoulders.

"I'm sorry Shiro, I cannot do that."

"If the Emperor does find us, I can pilot us to safety. We're in wide-open space with plenty of room to maneuver. Plus, we'd be able to out run him; Pidge added that booster rocket. I have my bayard and blade with me, and I packed a staff for Allura."

_"That thing's still on there?"_ Coran commented more to himself than anything.

_"We need both of you back here now!"_ A loud alarm started blaring, effectively cutting Shiro off and they listened to the Paladins freaking out about a debris field.

"Coran, what's going on over there?" Allura pressed into the com, worry lacing her words. "Can you hear me? Coran?" The responding static answered for him.

"Do you want to turn around Princess?" He asked, hand moving to the controls once again.

"No. That would defeat the purpose. We'll wait here until we hear word." He nodded and resumed his silent staring, watching as the vast cosmos hung around them.

Several uncomfortable dobashes passed before Coran came back over the com again, having moved the Castle away from the interference. He informed them that the planet they'd been heading for, Taujeer, was shedding its outermost layer and that the Paladins were helping the Taujeerians flee to safety before the deadly acid destroys everything. Keith winced, he was kinda glad they didn't have to deal with that – it sounded pretty awful. Then again, floating around in silence with Princess Allura was no picnic. Between the awkward silences and the sideways glances, he was not exactly relaxed. Yeah, maybe he'd prefer that acid planet instead. At least then he'd be with Red.

They let the time pass in even more silence, the dobashes going by agonizingly slow. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he spoke up. "Still no sign of Emperor Zarkon." He said because honestly, Keith couldn't think of a single thing to say, and he count take the silence anymore.

"Well, I'm glad I don't have to wait out here alone." She turned from the window and stared him in the eyes and _stars,_ was her gaze ever intense. If felt like her eyes were boring into his very soul. Keith swallowed uncomfortably. "You understand, I could never live with myself if Zarkon was finding us because of me. I must know. We face such a dire threat from the Galra … Empire." She corrected.

"Well, sure, no doubt about that. But -" He took a breath, and centred himself before continuing. "I know all too well what the Empire is capable of. But, what happens if Emperor Zarkon does come after us?"

"You said you could pilot us to safety, right?"

"Sure, but I mean, after that. Can we even go back to the group?" He watched the full weight of their situation fly across her face as she fully realized the implications. "And if we don't, who would pilot the Castle or create wormholes?"

"Well, what about you? Without you, the team cannot form Voltron."

"I guess we didn't think this through very well, huh?"

Allura gave a small chuckle. "No, I suppose we didn't." She stared at him for waaaay too long, seeming to build the courage to ask something. "What would your organization do in a situation like this?"

_What?_ Was she seriously asking what a Galra group would do? Asking Keith, a Galra, for advice? She wasn't going to like it! "Well, for starters we wouldn't be in this situation because we don't have a dynamic like Voltron. But, hypothetically, the two of us would never return. We would find a way-station with an Operative on it, hand over our blades to be placed in the main base's resting wall, and try to cause as much damage to the Empire as possible on our way out."

She stared back at him in shock, opening and closing her mouth several times without being able to form a response. "Obviously that isn't an option for us, you know, since Red needs her Paladin and the Castle needs you." Keith quickly concluded.

"I guess I hadn't really thought about how much your organization has sacrificed. You've been through quite a lot with this war." Something changed in that moment. They'd been on the path to recovering their relationship, but in this exact moment he could feel the shift. "I'm sorry I've been speaking about the Galra as a whole. I hadn't realized until just now how much of a struggle it must be to separate yourselves from the Empire." He nodded along, finally she understood. "What was it like meeting your other parentage for the first time?"

"Awkward." He snorted. "Human culture is a lot closer to Altean than Galra. They're so chatty, and touchy, and emotional! It was really hard to adjust."

"Tell me some stories! What is Earth like?" He quirked a brow at her incredibly random question. "We have an abundance of time and you are the one Paladin I know the least about. I'm familiar enough with the Galra to know we are not close enough for you to open up to me about this Blade of Marmora or your family, but perhaps you will share about Earth?" He shrugged. She was right, there was no way he'd talk about the Blades, but Earth? Sure, why not.

"Uh, I mostly lived in a desert, but Lance says it's nice where he's from." Okay, so Keith sucked at this.

"What about the academy you attended?"

He shrugged. "It was alright. I got kicked out."

"What? Why? What happened?" She paused and narrowed her eyes before smirking. "What did you do?" Keith abruptly exploded into a fit of laughter.

"Why does everyone always assume I did something?"

"Because you're hot-headed, rash, and aggressive. Common traits amongst the Galra but not well received by other species … um, no offense."

He shrugged. "None taken."

"So, tell me about the Human's space programs."

Keith let out a bark of laughter at that one. "What space programs?" He condescendingly replied. "They can't even leave their own system. Not Galaxy - SYSTEM!"

"Oh dear!"

"Yup!"

They laughed and mused for several more dobashes about Earth and the Humans. Keith talked about Nadia and Ina, the two closest friends he'd made. He talked about James and how annoying he was. He talked about Commander Iverson, Nurse Rob, Mrs. Holt, Adam, and a whole slew of others. But the one person he didn't mention was his dad. Family is sacred to Galra and he wasn't going to open up about his relationship with his father to Allura. They weren't there yet.

He had just finished telling her all about the time he'd gotten drunk with Nadia and ran up and down the halls of the Garrison's residence to play a prank. They'd put something called a bouillon cube in each of the shower heads and replaced the Garrison provided soap bars with blocks of white chocolate. It had been hilarious until he forgot about it the next morning and decided to cure his hangover with a shower. Luckily Keith had sensitive skin and used his own products, but he smelled like beef soup for three whole quintants after that.

Allura's laughter was interrupted by Coran's voice cracking through the coms. _"Keith, Allura, are you there?"_

"We're here, Coran. What is it?" Allura immediately replied.

"_Zarkon is definitely not tracking us through you!"_

"How do you know?" She pressed.

_"Because you're out there, and a Galra fleet just showed up here! We need you now!" _

"We're on our way!" Keith called and hit the button for the booster Pidge had added to the pod. Which promptly blew them up.

The two occupants were ejected from the pod, flung in opposite directions before the entire thing exploded into nothing more than shrapnel. His Paladin armour had a jet pack built in and Keith activated it to re connect with Allura.

"Allura!" He shouted through their suit's coms. "Grab my hand!" They reached for each other, arms stretch as far as they could go and he was able to grab hold of the tips of her fingers, pulling her in and stabilizing them. "Princess, are you okay?"

_"I believe so. Is your radio still working? All I get is static."_

"Coran? Can you hear me?" He tested and when he was met with nothing but static he replied with a dejected "Same."

_"Now, what? This was a terrible mistake! Shiro was right, we never should have left them."_

Keith closed his eyes and focused. He'd felt Red before ever becoming a Paladin, and from further away to boot. He could do this; he could call his Lion and get them to their team. The others were counting on him. He focused, and focused, and focused until he felt the familiar tingle of Red's flames. He could smell her smoke and was enveloped by her heat. It didn't take long before a loud roar sounded in his mind and he opened his eyes to see the most beautiful sight in the universe as Red approached. She purred her appreciation and he laughed whole-heartedly, her giant jaws clamping shut around them.

"I can't believe you were able to connect to the Red Lion from this distance!" Allura amazed from beside the pilot's seat. With Red's speed they caught up to the others in no time.

Red took out the Cruiser's ion cannon with her jaw blade, causing it to crash into the acid below and alerting both Voltron, and the Empire fleet, to the Red Lion's presence.

_"WOO HOO!"_  
"Yeah."  
"Alright!"

He heard the collective cheering over the lion's coms. Followed by Shiro's "_Good to have you back Keith!"_

"Good to be back!" He smiled.

_"Is the Princess with you?"_ Lance immediately asked. And Keith answered with a quick and reassuring 'yes'. _"Like 'with you' with you or _…" he trailed off and Keith rolled his eyes.

_"Uh, Keith? Little help?" _Hunk interrupted, pulling them all back to the current situation.

"On my way, buddy!"

* * *

Voltron made quick work of the cruiser, saved the Taujeerians, and returned to the Castle in record time. After Red landed in her hangar, Keith and Allura made their way to the bridge where they knew everyone would be waiting. He had not been looking forward to this. But hey, at least he was right. Black was definitely how Emperor Zarkon was tracking them.

But as Allura explained, this was unprecedented. Two Paladins battling for control of the same lion had never happened before. Shiro was going to have to re forge his bond with Black, and quickly.

"Well, while you're working on that. The rest of us need to find some new Teludav lens-stones, otherwise we wont be able to travel via wormhole." Coran pointed out.

"Is that something we have to mail order?" Hunk unhelpfully wondered and Keith rolled his eyes. This was 10,000 deca-phoeb old technology that could only be powered by an extinct race. _Where_ they could find them wasn't the question, it was more like _if_ they could find them.

"Does anyone even make those anymore?" He asked.

Allura answered, the adrenaline from their fight wearing off and leaving her drained. "I don't know. Only a few Alteans could use a Teludav. They may not exist anymore."

"I think I may know where we can get some." Coran quickly piped up, twirling the edge of his moustache. He raced over the main console and pulled up some nearby coordinates, as well as some old photos. A substantially younger Coran was displayed on the screen surrounded by a group of shady looking Unilu merchants.

"Coran! You're not suggesting going to one of those filthy swap moons! The last time you went, the Space Pirates took you for everything you had. Father was not pleased." Allura scolded and Keith tried to figure out what was at those coordinates. He pulled out his Blade data pad and cross-referenced them in his records while Lance asked about Pirates and Coran explained the less than clean-cut dealings of the Unilu.

"Well, while Coran's picking up his lenses, I'll take you shopping for something sparkly." Lance cut in, moving swiftly to stand by the Princess' side.

An enraged Coran separated them and raised his voice in a way Keith hadn't heard since they lost Allura to the Emperor. "THIS ISN'T SHOPPING!" He yelled in Lance's face. "You're not wandering around saying 'ooo, what a lovely pink hat, this is so becoming.' NO! I cant allow Allura to get anywhere near those filthy, low-balling Unilu hoodlums."

"Hoodlums?" Pidge snorted in the back corner and Keith suppressed the snicker at the words only he had been able to hear.

"But I'd love something sparkly!" Allura pleaded.

"Allura, you're the only one who can operate the Castle and you need to be resting after all you've been through. Now, let's ready a pod for our mission. You'll all need disguises!"

Keith had been waiting to say anything, he wanted to see their faces when they arrived, but there was NO WAY IN HELL he was walking around the mall in some stupid disguise. So he pulled up the information from his data pad and informed the group of the change. "Coran, it's been 10,000 deca-phoebs. The swap moon isn't a black market location any more, a nice cushy mall. With a fountain, and a food court. As long as you and Allura disguise your Altean-ness, you'll be fine."

"Well that settles it! Allura, you're coming with me. One of you can take Coran." _Ahh, some things never change. _Keith thought as he rolled his eyes at Lance.

"Uh, we can't take our lions genius!" Keith replied to the absolute moron. "It may be a fancy modern mall instead of a nasty swap moon, but it's a mall that's under Empire control. We still have to be careful."

"Then Allura is definitely staying on the Castle!" Coran shot back and Allura groaned in defeat. The group disbanded to head for the primary hangar and prepare one of the pods for departure.

"Coran, we can't show up in an ALTEAN pod. Those don't exist anymore. Let me call the closest Blade base and see if we can get one of our pods."

"Excellent suggestion, Keith!" He smiled and nodded at Shiro before falling back from the group to place the call in private.


	13. Babysitting

**BABYSITTING**

_"I don't understand why **Keith** gets to ride shot gun. I CALLED IT!"_ Lance whined for the 30th time since departing the Castle of Lions. He sat in the cargo hold of the small Altean pod with both his arms and legs crossed, and a rather childish pout on his face. He'd scowled heartily at the doors when Keith shut them, segregating the three Humans in the cargo hold from the Galra and Altean in the cockpit. Normally this would have meant the young Blade didn't have to listen to them, however Altean pods had the inconvenient ability to allow the cargo hold to message the cockpit. Thus allowing Lance to whine unendingly over the coms.

It had been explained to them all that Keith needed to be in the cockpit to provide his Operative ID and the coordinates of the base they were headed to. Without him, there was no way their little pod would be allowed to dock. Keith glanced to the side and watched the vein on Coran's forehead as it pulsed in annoyance. He tried his best to suppress the snicker but earned himself an unimpressed side-eye glare from the Altean. They were still another varga away from the Blade base and he rolled his eyes as Hunk's voice explained everything to Lance yet again. The com line still connected. _"Lance, buddy, you know the rules. You calling shotgun from the bridge doesn't count!" _

_"Since when?"_

_"Uh, since forever! You have to be in the pod bay to call it. That's shotgun etiquette!"_

_"Will you two knock it off?"_ Pidge interjected just as Lance was about to retort. They were met with a defiant huff and an ensuing silence as the coms were disconnected.

_Thank the Ancients!_ He thought to himself with a sigh and relaxed into his seat slightly. It was nearly 20 dobashes before Lance complained over the coms again.

* * *

Transit Base Kassatae was approximately the same size as Communications Base Thaldycon, but with a much higher volume of residents at any given time. Both bases were capable of supporting 2,000 occupants, however Thaldycon only ever reached a max of 10, while Kassatae was rarely fewer than 300. This meant that Thaldycon felt large and mostly empty, and Kassatae was constantly buzzing with activity. It reminded him of their Head Quarters.

As a transit base, Kassatae had a much larger docking station with 55 hangars in total; more than triple the amount on bases of a similar size. The cafeteria was larger; there were more lounge areas, more sleeping quarters, more washing facilities, more training decks, and one very special holding room.

To prevent the small transit bases from running out of space on their resting walls, each was equipped with a special holding room that contained crates filled with the soft purple sand of Daibazaal. This room is where Keith found himself as he waited for their pod to be ready. He opened one of the unsealed crates and added the four blades he'd been given back on Olkarion. Placing them gently into the sand (blade buried to the hilt vertically) he took a small handful and rubbed it into the sigil on the handle of each blade with his thumb, returning the lid of the crate when he had finished. Once the crates were full, they would be sealed and taken to Headquarters where Kolivan would set each blade into one of the many, many resting walls on base. There were crates destined for specific bases, and crates destined for the Main base. Any Operative whose home base was unknown would have their blade sent to Kolivan. Therefore, of the 50 or so crates in the holding room, approximately 30 of them were headed for Headquarters.

When he finished placing the blades, Keith exited into the hall. His red and white paladin armour marked his as 'other' to the Operatives of the base and most shot him dirty looks when they saw where he had come from. Keith mostly ignored them. But it was a new sensation, one he wasn't fond of in the least. He'd traveled to other bases before when he was on missions, and he'd even had to stay at a transit base for a few quintants while waiting for his pod to be repaired. But each time he had been in his Blade suit and his presence was never questioned, just another Halfling member of the Blade of Marmora. Now, in his Paladin armour, he was being met with skepticism and apprehension. He didn't like it one bit.

"KEITH" Came a familiar, but annoying voice as he walked into the cafeteria. "Dude, you've gotta check this out. They have so much food, like actual real food!" Lance was practically bouncing where he stood, the plate in his hands wobbling dangerously.

Keith smirked at him and rolled his eyes. Thaldycon had been mostly rations, with prepared dinners that the entire crew gathered for. But Kassatae had a much larger population and thus offered a constant buffet for occupants to eat as their schedules dictated. With pods and ships docking at all vargas, it was necessary to always have an assortment of food prepared. "Duh, it's a cafeteria what did you expect?" He sarcastically jabbed back and the Blue Paladin merely shrugged in return.

"Purple food goo I guess." He responded and turned towards the table where Coran, Hunk, and Pidge were eating their platefuls. Keith chuckled to himself as he walked over to the buffet line and grabbed some of his favourite dishes. It had been far too long since he'd had a good srava shake and any actual meat!

"Do you think they're all Altean?" A nearby Blade whispered to her companion, receiving a "Well the old one clearly is, and the others are wearing Altean armour – so maybe?" in response. Keith snickered and turned to see the Paladins removing their helmets. For the first time he examined them all, _really_ examined them. The similarities between Humans and Alteans were incredible. They really did look nearly indistinguishable aside from the ears and facial markings. In fact, with his slightly pointed ears he wouldn't be surprised if he were mistaken for Altean more than Human. Which was not ideal; he scowled into his meal as he walked over to the Paladins.

Keith took the spot beside Lance with Hunk on the Cuban boy's other side, and Pidge and Coran across from them. Scanning their trays he gasped in horror when he noticed Hunk had retained absolutely zero of his warnings from their time on the Thaldycon base. "HUNK!" He yelled. "What the quiznak! You CAN'T eat diffry berry pie. I already told you that."

"But it looks so good!" The larger boy nearly wept, his shoulders slumping in despair. "What if it's fine, what if it's just you and Iverson that can't eat it?" He tried to argue but Keith reached across the table to yoinked the dessert from his plate. There were some snickers from the table beside them, some confused stares from those standing nearby, and a whole lot of moaning and groaning from Hunk. In the end Keith won, and the pie found it's way into the waste bins.

"At least tell me what it tastes like." Hunk muttered into his soup and the young Galra had to pause for a minute to think of an Earth equivalent. Something sweet but tangy with a slightly sour after taste, nothing he had tried seemed to match the flavour so he shrugged and took another bite of his meal.

The three Cadets talked amongst themselves while they ate, Lance flinging his spoon around wildly as he gesticulated. After a dangerously close encounter with a particularly large glob of sauce, Coran finally had enough and chastised their Blue Paladin. With their helmets off, none of them understood a word the Altean said and Keith snickered at the confused stares he was now receiving.

"So, that's what Altean sounds like?" Lance commented with a far off expression. "It's oddly - "

"Alien?" Pidge deadpanned and Keith snorted.

_"Paladins, your pod is ready for departure."_ A young Operative announced as she came to stand beside their table. She wore her sheathed blade on her lower back as he did, and stood at approximately the same height as Pidge, meaning she was most likely a Halfling like him. But it was hard to tell with her mask activated.

Keith gave a curt nod. _"Appreciated. We'll head out momentarily."_ She nodded in return and swiftly walked away.

"_Right then,"_ Coran responded in horribly out-dated Galran _"Shall we?" _Keith smiled and resisted the urge to snicker at his pronunciation.

* * *

The reaction from the Paladins upon seeing the mall for the first time was nothing compared to the reaction he got from Coran. Unlike Altean pods, there was only space for a pilot in the cockpit of Galran pods. Like everything built by the Galra, both Blades and Empire alike, this re purposed Empire craft was genetically encoded to his species and only Keith could fly it. In other words, Lance calling shotgun again meant absolutely nothing and he was left pouting like he'd never pouted before in the cargo hold when they came up to the SpaceMall's massive hangar.

The trouble now was, since the mall technically fell into Empire territory, they had to wear their civilian clothes instead of their Paladin armour. This meant, aside from Keith, none of the Paladins would be able to communicate outside of their little squad. Coran had delegated them to stay as a group while he went off on his own. Both parties were to keep a close eye for scaultrite lens-stones and a whole list of other parts Coran needed for various repairs.

Hunk was insisting on going to food vendors to find actual spices and seasonings he could use in the Castle's kitchens. Lance wanted to ride the massive escalator from the ground floor up to the sky ridge, a total of 10 levels high with a large open-air gap in the middle. And Pidge had to pee.

Keith groaned as Coran waived heartily back to them and disappeared around a corner. Each of the cadets was now trying to head off in a different direction and Keith really, _really_ hadn't signed up to play babysitter. He had some GAC that he'd withdrawn on the Kassatae base from his personal accounts, and he had some random junk he could trade, but their funds were limited.

"Okay." He said decisively, pulling their attention back to him. "Either you all stick with me, or I buy you translators and you owe me a favour to be collected at a later date."

"Nope, nuh-uh, not gunna happen. I'm not agreeing to some random favour '_to be collected at a later date'._" Lance pulled out the air quotes and a mockingly high-pitched, whiny voice. Keith scowled at him.

"Yeah, I'm with Lance!" Hunk quickly agreed. "No offense man, but I don't trust you not to screw with us."

"Fair." He dismissed, shrugging his shoulders and crossing his arms. Lance looked victorious and Hunk looked relieved, but Pidge was starting to do the potty dance and their eyes were frantically darting around the vicinity. "Okay, first – bathroom for Pidge. Then we should grab lunch, then I have somewhere special I want to take you guys."

"Well that's cryptic, but you had me at bathroom!" Pidge eagerly responded and Keith chuckled as he led the group to the left, down two levels on a small escalator, and through the halls to the nearest bathroom. Pidge promptly scowled at the doors and groaned as they whipped around to glare at him. "Okay alien boy, which one?" They commanded.

"Left."

"Does it really matter?" Lance asked. "It's not like anyone has ever met a Human before. For all they know Pidge is a guy."

Keith rolled his eyes, if only it were that simple. "They aren't gender specific, Lance. The _right_ bathroom is for those with tentacles or who require a 'wet' facility. The _left_ bathroom is for those who are bipedal and require a seat and a 'dry' facility. Don't ask questions – just use the one on the left."

Pidge took off at a run into the left entrance, Hunk blushed a shockingly bright shade of crimson, and Lance muttered under his breath about wanting to find out what a 'wet' facility was. Keith just rolled his eyes again and leaned against the wall as he waited for them to come back out. It took a solid 5 dobashes before the gang was back together and they were ready to move on.

"So, lunch?" Hunk asked, out pacing Lance and Pidge to walk beside Keith. He nodded in return and led the group down the labyrinth of hallways.

The mall's food court was massive. The large round area was mostly metal painted in a soft cream colour, with large circular booths scattered throughout the space. Four giant pillars held up the transparent ceiling, allowing diners to gaze at the stars while they ate. Surrounding the seating area were a variety of food booths lining the walls. Each offered food from a different culture, some more authentic and others more mass marketed. There was a booth straight ahead that served nutrient rich broths, another near the far left that served only cold purée, and a few that served some variation of wraps. If Earth had a restaurant here it could serve burritos and fit comfortably with the latter, or pancakes with pancake sauce and coffee, or sushi, or best of all – pizza! Okay, he was maybe hungrier than he thought.

Shining bright like a beacon of light amongst all the crap was Vrepit Sal's, the only spot in the entire food court that served authentic Galran dishes. He was salivating already.

"Okay, we all have to go to the same spot so I can order for you. What does everyone want?" He asked, turning around to address his cohorts. "Wait, where's Hunk? Damnit, Lance! Why weren't you watching him?"

"What? Me? Why am I in trouble?"

"Cause he's your best friend! Around tech stuff we watch Pidge, around anything remotely breakable we watch you, and around food WE WATCH HUNK!" He seethed back. Honestly, he hated babysitting!

"We'll just go find him. HUNK? HU-" Keith immediately slammed his hand over Lance's mouth, muffling the last bit of yelling. Keeping his hand firmly in place, he glared at the moron.

"Shut up, Lance!" He urged through tightly clenched teeth. "You'll draw attention to us. Stars, you're about as bright as a yupper!"

"wassayupper?" came from behind his hand and Keith narrowed his brows in confusion, having understood absolutely none of that. A quick, and very slobbery lick to the palm had him jolting his hand back to his side and frantically rubbing the now tainted appendage against his leg.

"Ugh, gross Lance. What are you 5?" He scolded and the 'small child' stuck out his tongue. "Mature." He shot back, unable to let it slide. "We need to find Hunk, he doesn't have a translator or any GAC."

The threesome split up, Lance and Pidge going one way and Keith going the other. The nice thing about Hunk was they were pretty much guaranteed he'd stay in the food court, which helped limit their search area substantially. Pidge had set them a failsafe so they didn't lose the rest of their gang. The two groups would go from opposite ends and meet back up in the centre of the seating area in exactly 30 dobashes. First one to find Hunk was to drag his butt back to the meeting area and wait for the other(s).

Time was nearly up and Keith checked over his shoulder to glance at their meeting point and find it still empty. Sighing he continued his search. He practiced under his breath what he was going to say when they got back to the Castle. "_Sorry Shiro, I don't know how to tell you this, but we lost Hunk!"_ Hmm, that was no good. "_Sorry Shiro, I don't know how to tell you this, but Lance lost Hunk!"_ better. He continued like this as he wondered, most likely coming off as insane to the other shoppers, until something wonderful fluttered across his path. The smell was magnificent, rich and hearty with a hint of spice to it. The unmistakable scent of properly seasoned meat was mouth watering and Keith abandoned his mission to follow his stomach. Maybe channelling his inner Hunk would help lead him to the guy.

"Welcome to Vrepit Sal's, what sustenance option will you be choosing today?" The older Galra spoke in half-hearted common and Keith felt his face fall slightly. He'd heard that Vrepit Sal's had gone downhill ever since Sal Sr. passed away, but to actually hear the lack of enthusiasm in Sal Jr.'s voice was disheartening.

Keith stared up at the menu, trying to decide and eventually landed on a meat-pie and some gymmin juice, which he promptly ordered in Galran. Sal blinked at him in shock for a few tics before narrowing his eyes and leaning across the counter to stare him down. "Hey, wait a tic," the man said, mimicking Keith and switching to Galran himself. "I recognize you. You're that little rugrat half-breed who ran away from his mommy!" Keith blushed but nodded. "You still don't look very Galra."

Keith hissed at him, baring his sharp teeth and narrowing his yellow eyes. "I look Galra enough!" He spat back and Sal's eyes flew wide before he burst out laughing.

"If you say so kit. I got me a new chef who doesn't speak any common so food is slow, I'll call you up when it's ready." Keith nodded back to him and paid for his meal before turning to meet up with the others. He'd ordered enough for all four of them in the hopes that Lance and Pidge managed to find their missing Yellow Paladin.

When he got to the meeting place he found the others already waiting. "Any luck?" Lance asked and Pidge promptly smacked the other's arm.

"Yeah Doofus, that's why Hunk is standing right beside him." They sassed with an eye roll and Keith snickered, offering a high five and a 'nice' to the gremlin who accepted both with a smirk. Lance scowled. "Aww, you look like twins!"

"HEY!" The Red and Blue Paladins replied in unison, causing Pidge to burst out laughing with a condescending 'twins' forced out between gasps. Keith narrowed his eyes at them and huffed as his arms flew up to their usual spot across his chest. Lance slumped back further into the booth and continued to scowl.

"Whatever." Keith dismissed, redirecting the conversation. "I ordered some lunch for us, should be ready soon."

They sat in an awkward silence looking around the busy food court, and trying desperately to spot the large yellow, green, and brown colour pallet of their missing friend. Eventually Keith got up, muttering about checking on their lunch, and walked over to Sal's booth. The line up that had formed was unreal. When he'd walked up earlier there hadn't been a soul in sight, but now Sal's was lined up down the isle; blocking access to the other booths in the process.

He maneuvered his way through the crowd, weaving in and out of the line as he made his way closer to the front. Some patrons scowled at him, others actually shouted that he needed to get to the back of the line, but Keith ignored them all. One man reached out and grabbed his arm, but the young Blade flipped him over his shoulder and stepped on his chest as he walked over him. Another grabbed his hair and yanked him back only for Keith to spin around and growl at him, making sure to bare his teeth in the process. His yellow sclera with slit purple irises and sharp teeth was enough to let patrons know he was Galra and they mostly backed off after that.

There were still a few slurs tossed his way, a 'half-breed' here and a 'mutt' there, but nothing he wasn't used to. Keith let it wash over him as he approached the front of the line and called out to Sal in Galran. When the large pink blob-like person stepped aside, he got his first unobstructed view inside Sal's kitchen and nearly fell over from shock. Actually, why he was shocked in the first place was a mystery because _of quiznaking course_ Hunk would find himself chained to a broken down robot in a greasy kitchen the moment he goes missing. He probably ate something and realized too late he didn't have any GAC. Keith groaned.

Stepping in front of the next patron, and earning himself a very verbal objection, he immediately scolded the Yellow Paladin, switching back to English in an effort to be understood by the Human. "HUNK! What the quiznak are you doing? Get out of there, come on."

"Keith, my man! Oh buddy, am I glad to see you. You gotta help me, man! I thought they were free samples but they weren't and I ate one and Mr. Sal here chained me up then his robot died and now I'm the cook and the lady back here, um at least I think it's a lady, I mean she does have a beard, or they have a beard? No wait, she said **she's** been here since **she** was a little girl so that makes her a lady so yeah, the lady back here has been chained up for like, ever and I don't wanna die here man!" He panicked in one long breath and took a gasp of new air as he finished. Keith blinked at him, stunned by the onslaught of words.

"Uh, okay." Was all he managed to get out before Sal was handing over his plate of food and ordering him out of the queue. "_Okay, okay! I'm leaving!_" He replied to the man in his native Galran before switching to English once again to address Hunk. "I'll be back to get you. Just hang tight." The boy nodded and continued with his work, putting together plate after plate of food for hungry people waiting.

Keith plopped the tray down in the meeting place and announced that he'd found Hunk as the three of them dove into the most incredible meal he'd ever had. If this is what Hunk could do with real seasonings and fresh ingredients, he couldn't wait to get more of it on the Castle. They really needed to get Hunk those spices.

After their meal was finished Keith ordered Lance to clear away the tray then run surveillance to let him know if security was coming, all while he and Pidge went back for Hunk. Keith explained the plan to Sal in his native Galran. Pidge would fix his robot and Hunk would hand over the instructions for his dish. In exchange, Sal was to release Hunk. The man looked hesitant to comply and Keith narrowed his eyes dangerously, letting out a low rumbling growl in warning. Sal's eyes widened in a flash as he took in the hostile form the young Blade was assuming. He debated for a moment, hesitating just long enough for Keith's to flex his claws as a last warning, before finally agreeing to comply.

Pidge looked up at him nervously as Keith gave the order for them to repair the damaged robot. Watching Galra interact wasn't exactly something the Paladins were used to. The two Humans muttered between themselves about how scary it had been, how they didn't know Keith had that in him, and how they thought Sal was going to fight him. The Red Paladin merely rolled his eyes, once they proved the robot could do what they promised, Sal would lighten up. And he did. Keith had been right, again. The robot took Hunk's place in the kitchen and the latter was released from his cuffs. He'd moved to free the old woman by the dishes, but Keith swatted at his hand, pulling him back by the collar before Sal could lose his cool.

"She wasn't part of the deal."

"What? Keith, man, we can't just leave her here!" Hunk gaped back at him.

"We have to. Unless you want to deal with security, we need to leave now. Sal is being generous by letting you go in the first place. Hustle!" He barked back, and as they left, he turned back to Sal. _"Thank you for cooperating."_ Slamming his fist above his chest he repeated the Empire salute Sal had given him. "_Vrepit Sa."_

* * *

"HUNK! Buddy! You're okay! Oh I was so worried when Keith lost you!"

"WHAT?" he shrieked back at Lance who had thrown himself over their large friend. "I didn't lose him, he wandered off." But Lance wasn't listening; instead Keith rolled his eyes. "Come on idiots. I wanted to show you something and we still have that list from Coran." The gang groaned as they followed him down the halls.

They made a few stops along the way, finding shops that carried some of the parts on their list, and eventually making it to their destination: Terra.

It was just as Keith remembered. Dusty cassette tapes sat in boxes on the lower shelves, a display of palm trees standing in front of a setting sun adorned the back wall, and case after case of comic books stood off to their right. In the middle of it all was a greenish-grey man with large round eyes and only three fingers. He was dressed in horribly tacky Earth clothes, complete with giant shoulder pads and bulky gold chains, while blasting rap music over the shops speakers. The lyrics were quite profane, he was lucky no one in the universe understood English.

"Woah, look at this cool Earth stuff!" Lance exclaimed, rushing into the store with an eager Hunk hot on his heels. Keith grinned in victory as he watched their faces light up with glee. "Oh man, check this out! We gotta get it! OH – and this! AND THIS!" Lance rushed around, filling Hunk's arms with things Keith was sure he didn't have enough GAC left to afford.

"Guys, come on. We've got to be back at the ticking clock in 2 hours." Pidge piped up, ruining everyone's good time with their logic. "We're supposed to be looking for the teludav lenses and you guys are in the one store we know for certain won't have – OMGOSH! Is that Killbot Phantasm 1? The first _Journey to the depths of the demon sphere_?" They gushed, practically drooling all over the video game's case. "OH! Mercury Gameflux 2! With the original power glove that gives you infinite lives if you touch the index finger to the pinky! We HAVE to have this!" They were clutching the console tightly to their chest. In the blink of an eye the Green Paladin was standing between Keith and the shopkeeper, whipping their small head back and forth as they excitedly asked how much everything would cost.

_"1,200 GAC."_ Was the answer given in Common and Keith nearly dropped his jaw. That would translate to approximately $50(ish) US dollars for an entire gaming console, two pairs of controllers, and a game - what a steal. Except, he only had 3,000 GAC left on him and they still needed to get spices and a few more parts, plus the lens-stones.

"We don't have enough Pidge. You said it yourself, we're supposed to be finishing that list for Coran." he explained. Translating the amount they needed and watching the wheels turn behind the Gremlin's eyes.

"We're gunna find some money. Come on!" They hollered, grabbing hold of Lance's wrist and dragging the Cuban from the store. Keith yelled after them but it was no use, neither of them was listening.

A varga went by and he realized how much he'd actually missed the big guy's company. Together, he and Hunk had purchased an assortment of spices from various planets, including some traditionally Altean and Galran blends. Hunk had opened up each and every one of the containers, smelling them all and comparing them to different seasonings back on Earth. There was one he had dubbed 'Space Galric' and he'd picked up an absolutely massive case of it as well as one that he said reminded him of chili flakes. They'd stopped at another booth that sold an array of tuberous vegetables, one that sold leafy vegetables, and one that sold fresh cut meats. That one was Keith's favourite. He'd ordered all the meat and gave their docking number to have the produce delivered and loaded into their pod while they continued to shop. He managed to snag a small steak off the top and was excitedly munching on it while Hunk tried not to puke.

"Seriously, man, so gross." He'd complained at least three times already, but Keith didn't care. So he kept right on ripping bites off the fresh meat and happily smiling to himself as he enjoyed his snack.

"Humans always over cook meat." He mused as they walked, coming to an abrupt halt to avoid being run over by the mall cop. The out of shape Galra was speeding off in the direction of the large fountain; most likely some kit had fallen in again or something. Keith shrugged and took another bite of his meat, being sure to lick the side of his hand and catch the trail of blood that was running down it. Hunk gagged.

"We should stop at the bathroom one more time before we leave. So Pidge can empty their tiny bladder and you can wash your hands."

He actually laughed, letting his head fall back slightly as he did so. "Do you want a bite, buddy?" he teased, thrusting the raw meat in the other's direction and watched Hunk's face pale.

The two laughed some more, wandering in and out of shops as they managed to find a few last dobash items on the list. All in all there were only three things they didn't get: scaultrite lens-stones for the teludav, scaulicon (a composite mineral made from scaultrite and silicon) chips for the processor in the gladiator droid, and tape.

Hunk and Keith made their way back to the ticking clock at the main entrance and he kinda wished they'd had a chance to stop at 'The Slice Capades'. He'd packed up his throwing knives back when he was being assigned to Earth almost 3 deca-phoebs ago. When they visited the Thaldycon base he'd checked for them but Commander Tragok confirmed they'd been sent back to Headquarters with Zavin. He really wanted a new set. Shame.

Before he could even finish mentally pouting, loud voices shouting in English pulled his attention. Lance and Pidge were riding a quiznaking cow on a hover-pad through the halls with the security guard from earlier hot on their trail. He'd facepalm but there was no time! Within tics, the bovine riders were whizzing past them.

"GET ON MY KALTENECKER!" Lance hollered, reaching his hand out for Keith to grab. Instead, Keith pushed Hunk closer to grab the assistance while he deftly leapt into the air and twisted his body to land on the back of the cow.

"Did you buy a cow?" Hunk asked, settling in between the Green and Blue Paladins, while Keith took up the rear.

"It was free with purchase!" Pidge justified and they sailed over the railing, dangerously gliding the hover-pad down to the lower levels of the mall. They weren't going very fast he noted, but then again neither was their pursuer; the security hover-bike maxing out at about the same speed as their flying cow. Stars what a weird thing to say. That was one sentence Keith honestly never thought he'd ever think. Granted, it wasn't really the _cow_ that was flying, but still.

"There he is!" Pidge called out, pointing to where Coran was walking out of a shady looking shop.

_"We gotta go, Coran!"_ Keith yelled in terrible Altean.

_"I got the scaultrite lens-stones!" _He replied as Hunk leaned over to help pull him onto the hover-pad.

"_Good cause we didn't. But we managed to get most of the other stuff."_

"Guys, can we talk in alien languages later? Right now we've got to get out of here!" Lance cut in and Keith immediately translated for Coran. Kaltenecker took a sharp turn and they nearly lost Hunk. But another sharp turn in the opposite direction let him regain his purchase, and they all managed to make it to the hangar in one piece.

The mall cop wasn't far behind and they needed to get loaded into the pod and cleared for departure before he caught up or they would be locked down. Thankfully, luck was on their side and Keith launched the pod out of the docking station, clearing the gates just as the hover-bike came into view. When there was no further pursuit, he finally breathed out a sigh of relief.

* * *

Two vargas later they arrived back at the Kassatae base. "Keith Kogane, Operative 2675 – Red Paladin of Voltron, requesting permission to dock pod 1A-8."

"_Permission granted."_ came over the intercom and he docked their pod in the hangar. Keith, Hunk, and Lance moved all the supplies from the re purposed Empire pod into the Altean pod and Pidge tried to figure out what to do with the cow.

It ended up in the cargo hold with the rest of them. The very small, and now smelly, cargo hold that was 100% not designed to accommodate 3 people and a large farm animal.

_"Kaltenecker is the only cow in outer space! She's one of a kind."_ Lance argued over the com. Keith could hear the smugness in his voice as it came from beside Coran in the cockpit. He rolled his eyes and hissed at the cow when her tail swatted him in the face. Why was he at the ass end while Hunk and Pidge sat up by her head?

"And Keith is the only Human / Galra hybrid so that makes you both like, rare!"

"Rare? I'm not a quiznaking Pokémon, Hunk." He shot back, not impressed with being lumped into the same category as livestock.

_"Oh, so you've never seen The Exorcist but you know what Pokémon is? I don't get you, Mullet!"_ Lance replied, preparing to launch into some sort of rant. _Aaaaand that's enough of that_. Keith thought as he reached over to disconnect the com and cut the boy off. He snickered to himself and enjoyed the silence until Kaltenecker farted and he threw up his snack.

* * *

"What happened back here?" Coran exclaimed as the three Paladins piled out of the cargo hold. There was vomit covering the floor from all three of them.

"Keith puked up raw meat and blood which made Hunk hurl which made me hurl which made Hunk hurl which made me hurl which made Hunk -"

"I think they get it." He said, slapping a hand over Pidge's mouth. "The only reason I puked was because Lance's quiznaking cow farted in my mouth! I vote he has to clean this up."

"Oh, yeah, I second that!"

"HUUUNK! You traitor!" Lance whined. "And Kaltenecker is just as much Pidge's cow as she is mine!"

"Fine then you and Pidge can clean it up."

"WHAT THE HELL, KEITH?" Pidge shrieked.

"I don't care who cleans it up, just get it done." Shiro cut in, walking into the hangar with the princess and _OMG her hair!_ Keith couldn't contain the bark of laughter that escaped him at the sight. There was a giant poof in the front with a braided loopy thing at the back and two long ponytails at the sides. Each one was segregated into clumps by at least 10 elastic bands, with one being incredibly long and the other incredibly poofy. She looked utterly absurd. It was amazing. Keith instantly regretted that he didn't have his data pad on him to take a snapshot of this moment.

"I got the scaultrite lens-stones, Princess!" Coran cheered as he ran past her. "Off to get the teludav up and running again!"

"Excellent news, Coran!" Allura smiled after him and turned the mess in front of her. There were crates of supplies and food scattered in the hangar, a fresh pie courtesy of Kaltenecker, and the distinct smell of vomit lingering in the air. Not to mention the state of the three Paladins who had been in the cargo hold. "Oh, dear. Lance and Shiro will you take care of the crates and the … um, creature while the other three get cleaned up?" it wasn't so much a question as a nicely phrased order.

* * *

His shower had been amazing. The feeling of washing all the nastiness off was incredible. Keith let the hot water run over his body for far longer than was necessary but he was just so relaxed. Beside him, in the next stall over, Hunk was humming a tune the young Galra didn't recognize but it was light and it was catchy, so he bopped his head along any way. Enjoying the company.

They met at the dining hall two vargas after arriving back to the Castle of Lions. Lance and Shiro had taken a quick shower after finishing with the supplies and finding a home for Kaltenecker. Hunk had vanished to the kitchens with the excitement of preparing an actual meal for them all to enjoy. And Pidge had roped Keith into helping finagle some sort of fix to allow them to setup their new system.

Somehow they had to find a way to connect the Earth tech of their gaming console with the Altean tech of the Castleship. It was not easy, and several mild electrocutions later, they were treated to the welcome screen and opening music of Killbot Phanstasm 1. After a quick celebratory 'woop woop' from Pidge, he had to literally drag the still squirming Green Paladin away from their new toy to join the others for dinner.

Keith dodges angry glares and dirty glances from a scorned Pidge while listening to Shiro retell the crazy adventure he went on to strengthen his bond with Black. In a way, Keith was jealous. Even though Shiro didn't _actually _travel to the long destroyed home of the Galra, he had still been treated to a vision of Planet Daibazaal back in it's glory. Admittedly it was hard to be upset when the out come was so great, no more dealing with the Emperor fighting for control. His connection to Black had been severed and Shiro's had been strengthened. This was good news for all of them.


	14. Space Taco 20

**Author's Note:**

Okay so this took me waaaaaaaay longer to get out than normal. And I hate to drop an 8K chapter then say the dreaded word 'hiatus' but looks like that's what's happening. I will not have time for any writing over the holidays due to the obscene amount of driving I'll be doing, then I'm going on a cruise! This fic will resume at the end of January when I am back!

Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays to everyone! See you in the new year!

\- KarsKars

* * *

**SPACE TACO 2.0**

"_Arrangements have been made on our end. See to it that the Altean Princess cooperates. We are counting on you."_ Without any time for a response, or confirmation, Kolivan cut the line.

Keith stared at his Blade communicator, gazing into the black screen where his Leader's face had just been. The man's parting words '_We are counting on you' _echoed through his mind. _Great, no pressure!_ He thought to himself, slumping lower in the pilot's seat of Red's cockpit. Now that the Emperor couldn't track them, their every waking minute was no longer filled with fighting and evading. Suddenly, they found themselves with an abundance of free time and it didn't take long before Allura had them running drills in their lions once again. Her goal was to continue building and strengthening their team bonds, but instead they were all pretty exhausted.

Today was a rest day, which meant they finally got to relax for the first time in over a movement. Hunk was doing the will of the Ancients by baking them some incredible treats. Lance was losing terribly to Pidge at Killbot Phantasm. Shiro was last seen being shooed out of the kitchen by Hunk, his mouth suspiciously full of what ever had just finished cooling. Coran was cleaning the healing pods and re calibrating the somoflange. Allura was taking a nap after pouring over star charts all quintant. And Keith had been on the training deck until Coran locked him out once again. Apparently he needed to socialize and spend some quality time with his team – which was ridiculous because Keith had plenty of social skills … just not ones that translated very well with Altean's and Humans.

Instead, he sat with Red gushing about how incredible she was and how he was so lucky to have been chosen as the Paladin of the very best Lion. Vaguely Keith thought he felt Black scoff at that, but Red's thunderous purring drowned out any objections. Not that Keith cared, he was pretty sure each of the other Paladins believed their Lion was the best – they were wrong of course, but they were welcome to their delusions. He felt multiple objections to that thought and Red cooed about how sweet he was. The whole 'semi-sentient' thing was still a little weird.

With a heavy sigh, the young Blade pocketed his communicator and rose to his feet. Sooner was better than later if he were to try and convince the Princess they needed to visit headquarters. _Ughhhh _he groaned as he stood, "Why am I always stuck with the grunt work?" Naturally, no one answered his question.

The halls were empty and quiet, but it wasn't strange like it used to be when they had first arrived. Keith had become accustomed to the solitude of the Castle ship and, though he missed having more people around, it was nice to not be forced into uncomfortable interactions every waking minute like he had been back at the Galaxy Garrison. He'd had a little heart to heart with Coran a few quintants ago; the Altean was incredibly insightful and gave sound advice. It had been his deduction that Keith missed being around other Galra and that perhaps he was starting to feel isolated.

It made sense; the other Paladins were all Human and, even though the two Alteans were the last of their species, Coran and Allura had each other. Meaning Keith was the sole Galra on the Castle of Lions and it was starting to get lonely. Stopping at the Thaldycon and Kassatae bases had helped, but he wanted nothing more than to go _home._ And that thought made him feel weak. All the other Blades were risking their lives for the cause; either on the front lines raiding ships, or assigned to deep cover missions biding their time and covering their tracks. And Keith? He was sitting comfortably in the safety of a Voltron Lion while missing his mommy and friends. _Pathetic_.

Coran had told him not to think like that. He'd said the other Humans were all home sick as well and that it appeared to be a deeply Human trait. He'd also pointed out how dependent Galra are on their family units. So, essentially Keith had a double helping of genetic predisposition to isolation induced depression – or whatever the quiznak that was supposed to mean.

But he didn't feel depressed, just stressed and slightly agitated, and a little lonely. Okay, maybe a lot lonely. But that was different than being depressed. Coran had agreed with that point too. Which brought them back to _why_ he'd been kicked out of the training deck: to socialize. The Altean man's suggestion was to spend some quality time with the Humans on board the Castle; maybe he could take comfort in their presence.

But Keith knew what the Humans were like, they would think it was weird if he walked up and hugged Shiro, especially after the way he'd reacted to Allura hugging him. But only Shiro was close enough to him for a hug, maybe Pidge but definitely not Hunk or Lance. They were all friends, better now than ever, but they weren't _family._ Stars, Keith wanted a hug. He groaned as he walked the empty halls. Shiro would hug him, and Shiro wouldn't think it was weird. He could totally ask for a hug and the Human man would find it normal. After all, how many times had he seen all of the others 'hugging it out'?

"- able to fold space-time, and that was just at an outpost!" He heard Pidge's voice float around the corner, followed by the heavenly scent of freshly baked bread and the distinct aroma of purgin leaf tea.

"Mm, the space taco. It left us too soon." Hunk responded; his words punctuated by the clanging of baking sheets.

"Well, sure. But my point is, imagine how amazing their home base will be!"

"Exactly! It could take on any shape. Like a space jelly donut, or long like a space éclair. Or a space cheese blintz with a cherry sauce on top! Maybe a little dusting of powdered sugar. That's the stars."

"Aww, Hunk! Now I'm hungry for breakfast!" Lance whined. It was mid afternoon and breakfast the last thing on Keith's mind. He rounded the corner, walking into the kitchen and being treated to a sight he really should have expected.

Hunk was wearing a large white apron with a wide blue decorative collar and equally large blue pockets. His dark skin was completely hidden behind a full coating of a slightly blue tinted Altean baking flour that covered the large boy from head to toe. He had a bright yellow mixing bowl cradled in one arm and was pointing a batter-coated whisk at Lance with the other. The Blue Paladin was leaning backwards over the island, his elbows resting on the countertop and his back arched over so that his head fell between his shoulder blades. His feet were crossed on the floor in front of him and his hips were resting against the structure. He was bent nearly in half and Keith was pretty sure Human spines weren't supposed to bend that way – but then again Lance had proven himself to be quite flexible.

Pidge was sitting on a bar stool hunched over their laptop and typing furiously as they kicked their feet freely, too short to reach the foot bar on the stool and waaaay too short to reach the ground. They were subtly making side eye glances at the tray of fresh treats cooling in front of Hunk and Keith guessed it was only a matter of time before they tried to sneak a taste. Shiro was sitting at the table off to the side of the room, a mug of something dark placed in front of him. He had one foot flat on the ground and the other propped open across his lap, both arms were on the table cupping the warm beverage and his eye line was focused on the two boy's interaction. None of them had noticed Keith's arrival.

He leaned in the door frame and watched the young Humans. If they were Galra they would have noticed him by now for sure. Lance was teasing Hunk, repeating his words in a mocking tone and the big guy was starting to get defensive. Keith watched as Pidge took advantage of the distraction to finally swipe a piece of the loaf Hunk had just finished cutting up.

"Um, why am I missing a piece of space-banana bread?" Hunk asked; looking around the room and just missing Pidge shove the last bite into their mouth. "Shiro I swear to god if you took another slice I'll kick you out again!" their Black Paladin gasped in mock horror and Lance burst out laughing.

"What do you mean 'again'? You're supposed to be the adult Shiro!" Lance jabbed and Keith watched as the older man rolled his eyes and dismissed the enthusiastic Cuban boy with a flick of the wrist.

"I never agreed to that." He joked, smirking at the group of Cadets. Pidge reached their hand across the counter to snatch another piece of this 'space-banana bread' and Keith held back a snicker, not wanting to give away his position just yet. He wasn't hiding or anything, it was just baffling that NONE of them had noticed him so far, and he now kinda wanted to see how long it would take.

Lance made a coughing sound and pointed over at the sneaky Green Paladin causing Hunk to finally notice the thief. A chunk of bread was whipped in the Cuban's direction, as were several expletives. Keith struggled to maintain his composure.

"Would you STOP wasting my good batch! These are for Keith!" Hunk scolded and before the Red Paladin could finish processing the words Lance piped in.

"I don't understand why you're baking these for him." He'd added, still leaning backwards against the counter in what had to be an incredibly uncomfortable position by now.

"I think it's sweet, Hunk. Keith will love it." Shiro said with a smile and the young Galra felt himself blush. Hunk was baking all of this for him? Why? Was it normal for Humans to do that? He suddenly had so many questions.

"Yeah, well, you know. Coran said he's been feeling a little homesick and I know it's not all Galran stuff but um, yeah, I thought maybe it would help. I made perkin – purgan? - leaf tea which is a Galran herbal tea and some traditional Galran pie!" Hunk replied, fiddling with the presentation of the desserts. "I just feel bad, you know? Like, we all have each other and he doesn't really have anyone."

"Well he'd have us if he wasn't always sitting in a dark corner playing with his knife or being all dark, broody, and mysterious."

Pidge coughed something that sounded suspiciously like 'subtle' and Lance shot them a glare. But after a few more coughs Keith decided it must have been his imagination and he shrugged it off. Choosing instead to roll his eyes at the Blue Paladin.

"You made the initiative once, but have you tried since?" Shiro asked. "You could always find him and offer to hangout. Keith isn't as 'broody' as you think. He just has a hard time understanding Human interaction." His astute observation was met with a look of shame and Shiro let out a heavy sigh. "Lance, you're forgetting that even though Keith _looks_ mostly Human, he's not. Keith's Galran genes are more dominant and he was raised as a Galra. To him, we are just as alien as the Galra or Alteans seem to us. How would you feel if we left you behind on the Thaldycon base and you had to navigate their customs and speak in an alien language and deal with a species you had never met before. Keith isn't being 'broody', he's overwhelmed."

"I know." Lance replied, his voice softer than usual. "We had a talk about it months ago. He told me how hard it is for him and how lonely he felt. I told him about missing home and we kinda became friends I guess. I thought he'd start hanging out with us more after that, or after every thing with Allura blew over, maybe. But he didn't. He stayed distant and he didn't bother to hangout with anyone other you or Pidge."

That was it; Keith couldn't stand there and listen any longer. Hunk cared so much it made him melt and Lance really seemed genuinely hurt that he didn't try harder. Before he could stop himself, Keith had walked out from where he'd been leaning and stood beside Lance. Maybe if he asked for the boy's help they could hangout some more. It would be like the Kerberos farewell party all over again.

"Hey." He said and received an equally unenthusiastic 'hey' in return. "Have you seen Allura?" Lance quirked a brow and gave a puzzled look back to him.

"Why are you looking for the Princess?" he asked after a moment, his tone becoming more defensive as usual when it came to her. Keith rolled his eyes.

"I checked her room before I came here and she wasn't in it. Any idea where she could be, Lance? My Leader is wanting to meet with her and he wants us all to come to base."

"That wouldn't happen to be your head quarters would it?" Pidge excitedly interjected and Keith nodded, earning a deafening squeal that caused him to wince as his hands flew up to protect his sensitive ears. "OMGOSH WE WERE JUST TALKING ABOUT THAT!" They rushed and turned to Hunk with a massive grin across their face. "HUNK – Space Taco 2.0!" The Yellow and Green Paladins jumped up and down, high-fived each other, and squealed in glee.

"Could you not?" he condescendingly replied, wiggling a finger is his now ringing ear. "Besides, we can't go unless Allura 'Okays' it."

"Try the bridge, Keith. She was pouring over star charts all day." Shiro interjected.

"Checked there already."

"Hmm, what about the observation deck? Okay – the lounge? Meditation room? Pool?" Keith shook his head at each of Shiro's suggestions. He'd already checked all of her usual haunts and more.

"OH!" Lance yelped, pushing himself off the island and grabbing Keith by the wrist, leading him out of the kitchen before the others had a chance to blink. "I think I know where she is! Follow me!"

"I don't really have a choice if you're dragging me along do I?" He playfully quipped back and they darted down the empty hall. Keith was perfectly happy to follow Lance around, except this was a little more physical contact than he was comfortable with. "Lance, let go." The Cuban didn't even register his voice. "Lance! Let go of my arm!" He called out, slightly louder this time.

His wrist was abruptly dropped. "Oh, sorry."

"Where are you leading us?" He replied, lightening his tone.

"To this room I found one night. I was homesick and scared and I couldn't sleep so I was wandering around." He said it so casually that Keith almost missed the subtext hidden by his nonchalant tone. When had this been? Was he still scared? "I got super lost and found this room and Allura was inside. I think she was more startled to see me than I was to randomly run into her." He chuckled slightly and picked up the pace. "Come on, it's this way."

They hurried down the halls, Lance expertly guiding them through the labyrinth that was the Castle of Lions. It seemed as though the further they went, the more confusing the route became. He'd voiced this and Lance grinned widely at him, explaining what Allura had described as a protective measure. Essentially, the confusing layout was designed to make it nearly impossible to find the throne room without prior knowledge of exactly where you were headed. Lance had stumbled upon it by sheer happenstance.

When they'd first arrived at the Castle of Lions, Keith had used his spare time to make a mental map of the layout. There were still some areas on the massive ship he hadn't had a chance to get to, such as the holding cells in the lowest levels, some of the storage rooms, and obviously this entire section. He couldn't recall having ever been in this area and it made him uncomfortable, how much of the ship had he missed in his initial reports?

When they reached their destination, he was greeted by a rather plain and understated set of doors. They were absolutely massive, easily 20 feet tall, and had a faint pattern etched into them but otherwise they were rather unremarkable. Until Lance placed his hand on the door pad and the etchings lit up in the trademark bright Altean blue. It was stunning. Absolutely breath-taking. He'd read about the beauty of the Altean palace before but he'd never seen any pictures of it. The Emperor had made sure to destroy as much of Altea as possible. Even though this wasn't the actual palace, it was still a royal ship and it was truly spectacular.

Lance waltzed into the room without hesitation, but Keith needed a minute to appreciate everything before he could follow. It was bright on the castle, _waaaay_ too bright for his liking, but this throne room was even brighter. Lance blinked and squinted in the light as he called Allura's name and Keith slammed his eyes shut, placing his hand on the Blue Paladin's shoulder. He relied on his other senses, the touch of Lance's shoulder as he guided them through the room, the sound of their footfalls echoing in the silence, and the smell of Allura's perfume that hung in the still air. Keith shifted his eyes back to their more Human form and tentatively opened them.

The light was still overwhelming but not nearly as bad as it had been before. The colours were more vibrant with these eyes and he could see that his previous assessment had been wrong. The door wasn't strictly white, but in fact had a very faint mosaic of flowers around the frame. The soft and decorative boarder was so understated that it appeared as a barely perceptible halo of colour around the entrance. It was magnificent.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Allura's singsong voice came from behind him and he spun on his heel to greet her. From this position he could see the rest of the room and, sitting on a podium, sat two white chairs. Each had a back as tall as the grand doors, soaring towards the ceiling and tapering to a peak. Like the walls, ceiling, and floor they were a crisp white and were adorned in the same way as the entrance. The faint halo of colour formed a boarder around the edge of the backs and covered the legs completely. While the two thrones were strikingly beautiful, there was something off about them and it took longer than he'd like to admit before Keith noticed there were no armrests.

Lance stepped down into the recessed centre of the room, walking towards the raised podium and stopping at a barrier Keith hadn't noticed before. The room was so bright that the glass barricade had been nearly invisible to his strained eyes. When the young Human stopped, two figures flickered to life in the chairs: King Alfor and Queen Melenor.

The holograms sat perfectly straight in their royal seats, hands folded neatly on their laps, and heads cast downwards so their chins rested against their chests. "They are both passed now, that is why the holograms do not look at us. When my father's AI was still active his hologram gazed ahead but not any more." Her voice was sombre and quiet, barely more than a whisper beside him.

"Your father is well remembered." She smiled at him, a genuine connection finally beginning to form between them once again. Though he'd given a classic Galran condolence, it had been genuine and she could clearly sense that. He had no idea how Altean's addressed loss.

"Thank you, Keith." They both watched Lance as he walked around the room, studying the brightly coloured tapestries that hung from the walls. Keith watched as the Human soaked up this ancient culture and soon found himself staring at some of the more detailed works. They depicted various scenes of life from Altea. One showed rolling hills speckled with small tri-petal pink flowers. Another showed a giant white lion with a halo of light surrounding it, as the beast stood guard before a vast city of floating crystal. And yet another showed a younger version of the Royal family: King Alfor, Queen Melenor, and their baby daughter Allura.

On the ceiling of the large room was a vast mural, brightly coloured and perfectly preserved through time. It depicted the original Paladins of Voltron standing proudly in formation with their Lions seated behind them. Front and centre was Emperor Zarkon. Keith stared up at the painting, this Zarkon looked nothing like the monster he was fighting against. This version had kindness in his eyes, eyes that were the rich gold of the Galra, not the glowing purple of the Emperor's corrupted quintessence.

"He gave me a helmet for my first birthday. My Father put it in a display case because it was bigger than my entire head." The Princess chuckled beside him. "I wonder sometimes what became of his wife and child. Honerva had been pregnant when Zarkon entered the quintessence field with her. It was deca-phoebs later that the Galra attacked Altea and by that time Zarkon already had his witch."

"I know. I learned all about it." Keith replied, and hesitated a moment before continuing. "Actually, it's been long suspected by our organization that the Empress and the Witch are one in the same." He watched pure horror cross her face as Allura connected the dots.

"But that would make the witch an Altean." Her voice was hesitant, resisting the evidence directly in front of her as she shook her head. "No." All the horrid things the witch had done would suddenly become crimes committed by one of her own, Keith didn't think she would accept that. He believed it though; he was amongst the few that did. Most refused to see this explanation as fact, but a select few were able to open their minds to the possibility. Kolivan believed it, so did his mother, Ulaz, Ms. Proxa, and several others.

For Keith, the proof was in the way she _felt._ The Witch felt different from the Druids, the way she manipulated quintessence was different too. Allura felt similar to her, not the same – a brighter, more hopeful feel; but still a similar signature to their quintessence. It marked them both as 'not Galra' and there was really only one other species capable of advanced quintessence manipulation: the Alteans. But he would _never_ say that to the Princess. Not without risking his head and general well-being. He knew Allura enough to know she would not handle the association well; she viewed Alteans as infallible. In her mind the Witch was Galra and nothing he said would change that.

So Keith shrugged. "It's a theory."

She hummed at him but let it slide, not wanting to get into another fight or argument. They were doing so well to repair their relationship after all.

"What about that one?" He asked, pointing to the glowing white lion. "Is that supposed to be Oriande?" Her entire demeanour changed at once.

"Yes! Are you familiar with the ancient Altean legend? It is said to be a mystical land were the gifted could travel to learn the most closely guarded secrets of alchemy."

"I think it would be cool to go!" She blinked at him for a moment, hesitating to voice her thoughts.

"You are not an Alchemist." Is what she somehow landed on. Keith rolled his eyes.

"And it's just a legend."

"Maybe." There was a long silence between them that was slowly becoming increasingly more awkward. "Why were you looking for me?" Allura abruptly announced, a smile plastered on her face, fighting the tightness in her posture.

"My Leader is wanting to meet with you to discuss an alliance with Voltron." Done, he'd said it. But instead of being exited, the Princess furrowed her brow.

"I forced Lance out almost immediately the last time he was here and I'm afraid I need to do it again. We should head back to the bridge."

She gathered Lance and ignored the boy's protests as they exited into the hall once again. They discussed the offer from Kolivan some more as they walked, she had been hesitant to work directly with the Blades until Keith mentioned that their Leader had a plan for taking out the Emperor. After that, it didn't take much convincing and they soon found themselves strapped in for another trip through a wormhole.

* * *

Keith had given Coran the coordinates of the base and they exited the wormhole directly in front of his kit-hood home. Suddenly, he was nervous. What if no one remembered him because he'd been gone for so long, what if the Paladins committed a cultural faux pas, what if he hadn't done enough during his time with Voltron, what if they tried to end his mission, what if what if what if! These thoughts swirled in his head, and one other. Things with Allura were steadily improving, her feelings towards Keith becoming increasingly more friendly and amicable. However, this understanding and patience did not extend to the Galra as a whole and he worried if it would sour any alliance Voltron and the Blade of Marmora could potentially form. All of his fears bubbled to the surface as he stared at the celestial camouflage of the head quarters for the Blade of Marmora.

"Think they'll give us lunch?" Lance joked with Hunk, standing in the middle of the bridge as they discussed their meal options in great depth. Shiro had moved to stand with Coran, looking at the charts and discussing something that was being drowned out by the unproductive lunch debate. Pidge had opened up the scanners on their console and was checking for any signals they could pickup.

"Oh yeah! Space Taco here we come! OH, we should introduce them to actual tacos." Hunk replied and Keith rolled his eyes. They were so close to his home, to where he'd been raised, and to the people who had raised him. This was a strict military organization that would judge the Paladins harshly, especially so for Keith. He had to prove that Voltron was up to the task laid out for them, prove to Tok and Kolivan that this rag-tag band of adolescents from some backwater planet was capable of ending the tyranny of a 10,000 deca-phoeb old war. He had his work cut out for him.

"Guys, this is a serious mission. We need to focus." He urged the crew.

"We NeEd To FoCuS." Lance mocked and Keith scowled at him but Coran interrupted to let them know the base was in range before he could scold the Cuban.

"Take us in slowly." Shiro commanded.

"That might prove the tiniest bit of a challenge." Replied Coran with a healthy dose of bewilderment.

When the entrance to the Blade's base popped on screen Hunk gasped. "Is that a black hole?" He asked and Keith felt his chest warm with familiarity.

"No, no, no, no, no. It's TWO black holes, and a giant blue star." Coran clarified.

Hunk continued with a "That's not better." and Pidge cut in with their own observations. "No kidding. Just inside a black hole, the temperature is one millionth of a degree above absolute zero. But, just outside of that, it's hundreds of millions of degrees Celsius." _Ahh, home sweet home,_ he mused to himself.

"Okay, so it's like when you try to nuke a frozen burrito in the microwave, and it comes out all scorching hot on the outside, but it's still frozen in the middle, right?"

"Ahh, HUUUUNK! Now I'm _really_ hungry for lunch!" Lance whined and that was the last straw. Keith jumped to his feet and took control of the situation. They needed to understand just how important this meeting was.

"Guys, QUIET!" He yelled. "Coran are you able to bring us closer?"

"To the three deadly celestial objects? I'm afraid not."

"It's the perfect defensive position for a secret base." Pidge mused, adjusting their glasses as they studied the Altean symbols on the screen.

"Or the perfect trap." Allura stated and stared hesitantly ahead, furrowing her brow and mulling something over in an internal struggle that played across her delicate features. "Keith, how dangerous is the trip to your base?"

"Very." He replied matter-of-factly and she nodded, seemingly confirming the argument she'd had with herself. He was going to object, tell her that he would never lead them into a trap but the soothing female voice of the Castle's speakers cut him off.

{ Identify Yourself. }

Keith stepped out past Lance, ready to give his Operative ID but Shiro beat him to it. "Open a hailing frequency, Coran." He said softly to the Altean beside him. Putting on his most 'leader-y' voice, Shiro cleared his throat and raised his volume and voice clarity. He was not yelling, he was commanding. "We are the Paladins of Voltron. Our presence has been requested."

The silence dragged on and Keith knew it was Kolivan's way of testing the Paladins. If they spoke before the system responded they would fail, if they challenged the silence they would fail, if they backed down they would fail. He held his breath as he watched their many faces.

{ Two may enter. Come unarmed. }

"Why would they insist we come unarmed?" Allura asked the room. "No, we will definitely be bringing the bayards along."

"They've just sent us a route to the base, but we'll have to move quickly." Coran announced, cutting the Princess off. "Because of the solar flares, it's only open for another _varga. _Then it will be closed for two quintants."

Immediately Lance jumped in to ask who was going, oozing that fake confidence that Keith found so annoying. "I'm thinking things might get a little hot, so you're gunna want someone who can stay cool."

"You're right." Shiro responded. "Keith, you're coming with me."

"WHAT? Keith's a hothead! We can kiss the Galra alliance goodbye!" Lance shouted, mere inches from Shiro's face. Keith rolled his eyes.

"Relax, Lance. I don't count." He soothed. "This is my home base. I'm not a guest here so it'll be me plus the two allowed." This seemed to do the trick and the passionate Blue Paladin stepped out of Shiro's personal space. "I vote Shiro and Allura." He added, smirking as a look of betrayal appeared on the tanned boy's face.

"Well, I say if this Blade of Marmora wishes to form an alliance with Voltron, then they shall meet with ALL of Voltron." Allura countered. "Lance, Pidge, Hunk – you will join Shiro and I as Keith takes us to his base. Coran, stay here and monitor the Castle of Lions. Be sure that no Galra makes it on board. I do not want a repeat of the last time we neared a Marmora base." She shot the young blade a stiff look from the corner of her eye and he remembered the chaos that surrounded Ulaz's infiltration. It was hard not to smirk.

"The course to the base will be quite treacherous, to say the least. You're walking a razor's edge between the gravitational pull of the black holes and the star. One false move, and you'll either be crushed into infinity or burnt to a crisp."

"Don't worry Coran, Blue and I got this!" Lance bragged and Keith couldn't possibly hold back after that. The sputtering laughter that came from him was both sudden and loud, earning a glare from Lance. "What? You think you can do better, Mullet?"

Keith scoffed and rolled his eyes in response. Did that even need answering?

They made their way to change into their respective armour and Keith stood frozen in his room. Did he put on his red and white Paladin armour or his black and purple Blade suit? The abrupt opening of his bedroom door had Keith jumping backwards and hissing at the intruder.

"Chill dude, s'just me." Lance had his hands out in front of him in surrender, stepping into Keith's room and closing the door behind. Like usual, the lights in the Red Paladin's bedroom were kept dim, and it gave a much more private feel to his room than anywhere else in the Castle. The change in lighting made the room feel 'other' to the overly bright corridors that surrounded it. "Look, I know I'm not a 'golden boy' pilot like you or Shiro, but I've learned a lot and I'm a decent pilot now! Please, just let me impress the Princess by flying the hard path! Please Keithy, Pleeeeaase!" He uncharacteristically pleaded.

"One – don't ever call me 'Keithy' again or I will gut you. And two – no."

"Oh come on." The Blue Paladin whined. "Please man. I'll like, owe you one or something! Please, just let me try!"

"Lance, this isn't something you _try, _it's something you _do._ If you can't see the difference then I cant help you."

"Okay, then please let me _do_ this, Keith!"

"No, Lance. You only get one shot at this, one chance to make it through the narrow path. If you try and can't do it – then we all die. The lions are almost too large to make the trip anyways. There's no way Black could do it, and Blue and Yellow are borderline too big. Red is faster, smaller, and more maneuverable – she's clearly the best lion for the job." Lance couldn't argue with his logic but that didn't stop him from looking incredibly dejected. "I've flown this path a million times. Plus, you don't know the docking protocols and you cant read Galran."

"Fine, you win. Whatever." Keith watched as the disappointed boy turned to leave, proverbial tail between his legs. He couldn't let it end like this; Keith couldn't stand to see Lance hurt. Sure they teased each other all the time but this was different. This hit at something deep inside the other boy, some insecurity that he kept buried under that false bravado of his and Keith just couldn't let him leave in this state. He mentally rolled his eyes at himself.

"For the record, you have improved a lot since leaving Earth. I think you're a damn good pilot, Lance." The reaction was instantaneous, transforming the boy's face in a split second. The Cuban beamed back at him and Keith felt himself blush under the intensity. Damn hormones.

"Thanks, man. Hey – you need help?" He pointed to the two distinctly different sets of armour on the bed and Keith let out a sigh. Yes, he did need help.

"I just - I don't know what to wear. Do I put on my Blade suit since we're returning to my home base? Or do I wear the Paladin armour to match the rest of you?"

"You wear the Paladin armour." Lance replied without hesitation and Keith quirked a brow at him in question. "Look, you're returning to your home base, but your not '_returning to your home base'_ if you know what I mean. You're going as our Red Paladin, not as a Blade. So you wear the Paladin armour."

"Huh, just like that?"

"Just like that!"

"Thanks, Lance. That was actually really helpful." He smiled at the Human boy and started placing the white panels until he was fully suited. Tucking the helmet under his arm, and packing his Blade suit into a tote bag, he walked with Lance to the Red Lion's hangar where the rest of the team and their Altean Princess, were waiting.

"You two love birds ready to roll?" Pidge shot at them. Lance sputtered his protests and Keith hid his blush by walking over to the Princess.

She was standing next to Red's massive paw and seemed to be fighting an internal battle. Her brow was pinched in the middle and there was a scowl on her face, a face that was staring intently at nothing in particular. "Allura?" He asked, breaking the silence around her. She blinked slowly as her focus returned to the present. "Everything alright? You've seemed a little all over the place this quintant."

"Things have been better between us. You and I." He nodded at her clarification. "I'm sorry I insinuated that this could be a trap. I know you would never knowingly lead us into danger. I want to form this alliance and take down Zarkon, but the prospect of working alongside Galra is just -" She tapered off and glanced up to stare at the majestic head of the Red Lion. The silence stretched, neither one making a move to speak.

"I understand." The young Blade finally said. "I know what you've been through but Allura, these are good people. We're all on the same side here and our Organization has so much to lose if this fails. Working with Voltron means working in the open and that means exposing us to the eyes of the Empire. All of our undercover operatives will be at risk, all of our long-term missions could be jeopardized, and everything we have spent thousands of deca-phoebs working for would be destroyed if this alliance fails. You need to understand that you aren't the only one going into this with reservations."

She turned her head to down to face him and smiled. "You're right. If your Leader trusts you enough to work with Voltron, then I trust you enough to work with the Blade of Marmora."

* * *

Keith was uncomfortable with this. Everyone had refused to sit in the cargo hold and the entirety of team Voltron (minus Coran) was crammed in the tiny cockpit of the Red Lion. "STOP CROWDING ME!" he yelled and literally no one listened. There was an elbow digging into his shoulder, someone's hot breath on the back of his neck, the large body of Hunk pressed tight to his left leg, and someone else who kept making annoying swallowing sounds in their throat. "GUYS! Seriously, back off!" He commanded once again and Hunk shifted slightly but that was about it. No one else moved, then again no one else really _could_ move.

It had been cramped in the cockpit of Blue when they'd all left earth, but Red's cockpit was smaller and this time they had one extra person. More people in a smaller space, does not a happy Keith make.

He could feel the pull of the black hole on his left as it tried to draw them in, and his attempt to adjust their trajectory slightly was met with resistance by Hunk's body blocking the lever from moving. The pull grew stronger and an alarm started going off. Keith let out a fierce growl from deep within his chest. "HUNK – MOVE!" He commanded and the big guy shuffled to the side with a terrified whimper. He felt the mouth breather behind him whisper 'jeez' under their breath and he rolled his eyes.

With the added space he was able to correct their positioning and get them back on track, narrowly avoiding a solar flare in the process. When they finally made it to the asteroid the base was built inside, there was no one there to greet them and Keith set Red down on a flat surface. She was worth showing off, and he knew every single Blade on this base would want to have a peak at her.

_"There's nothing here. This place just looks like a plain asteroid."_ Lance commented over their helmet coms, sprinting past him down the ramp. Allura and Shiro followed with Pidge and Hunk close behind. _"Are you sure we're at the right spot?"_

"No – you're right Lance! We should be at a completely different asteroid orbiting a giant blue star between two black holes. It's such a common configuration that I get it mixed up all the time!" He quipped back, his voice taking on a mildly condescending tone. The ground beneath their feet suddenly began to rumble and he heard the distinct sound of the large bay doors opening.

_"OH MY GOD! What is happening?"_ Hunk panicked. He darted around nervously and nearly crushing Lance in his attempts to climb the boy.

_"Hunk, man, relax."_ Lance soothed. Two members of the Blade rose from inside the asteroid, the bay doors having opened for the arrival of the elevator platform. One was tall and slim while the other was a hulking mass who's distinctive size and tail made it painfully clear that they were Antok. Suddenly, he wondered if his status as the Red Paladin had been disclosed to anyone other than a need-to-know basis. Knowing Kolivan, probably not.

With his helmet on, it would be hard to tell him apart from the other Humans, and he decided to 'play Paladin' and let Kolivan be the one to make the announcement. Plus, it would be fun to mess with Tok.

_"Follow. Your presence is expected."_ Said the slimmer Blade and Keith suspected it was Marra. Or, maybe Ilun. Damn, it could also be Fayz or Ms. Drezlia, or one of the other 8 gabillion female members of the Blade. She did seem familiar though.

The Paladins and Altean Princess followed silently behind the two Blades. Hunk whimpered to Lance about how scary it was that they were all going into a base filled with Galra and Keith shot him a look. Lance quickly pointed out that this wasn't the first Blade base they'd been on and that Hunk was being a 'wuss'. Keith didn't know what a 'wuss' was, but he suspected it was some sort of timid creature native to Earth. He smiled warmly at the back of Lance's head as the elevator descended to the main entrance hall.

When the gates opened, the hall was lined with Blades in full armour, Kolivan standing on his stage at the head of the room, an operative flanking either side. Keith smiled to himself, this was a show of arms, something done to display great respect for the arriving party. He knew only Allura would understand the gesture.

"I am Kolvian, leader of the Blade of Marmora." Their leader spoke calmly when they had come to a stop before him. His voice was steady and commanding, reflecting off walls and needing no assistance to carry throughout the room. Now that they were safely inside the base their helmets could be removed, but without them the other Paladins would have no way of understanding the language spoken. Shiro had his arm to translate, and Allura spoke mediocre Galran, but the others would be lost. Still, he heard Kolivan clearly without the use of the com.

"My name is Princess Allura, of planet Altea and this is Shiro, the Black Paladin of Voltron, as well as the other Paladins. We come with promise of an alliance that will end this war."

"I know who you are. You were instruction to send only two representatives." Keith marveled at his leader's ability to keep his voice void of all emotion. You couldn't tell if Kolivan was actually upset or if he was just pushing to see the Princess' reaction, though he'd put his GAC on the latter.

"Yes, and Voltron is a 5 member team. You requested an alliance with Voltron, and you have received Voltron. In it's entirety." She stood her ground. There was a long moment of silence. The other Paladins shifted uncomfortably but Keith stood still, he was used to this. Allura also held firm, standing tall under the mask's unyielding gaze. Eventually Kolivan spoke.

"The Black Paladin is the head of Voltron, am I correct?" Keith watched Allura nod once, a single curt nod in accordance with Galran culture. She was good, her skills as a diplomat were shining through and he was genuinely impressed. "And the Red Paladin is the second in command, also correct?" Another curt nod from Allura and Kolivan gave a hum as he processed the information. "Fayz, escort the Yellow, Green, and Blue Paladins to their quarters. Antok, join the Altean Princess, my self, and the two leaders of Voltron in my office to discuss our alliance."

"You will meet with all of Voltron, or you will meet with none of Voltron." Allura spoke up, squaring her shoulders even more. Again, Kolivan stared in silence, assessing the Princess.

"Then I will meet with none of Voltron. You are dismissed to your quarters until the path to your ship re opens." He turned to face Keith directly and it was as if a massive spotlight were shining on him, he felt the eyes of the other Blades watching carefully. "Red Paladin, I expect a full report on your mission progress. Follow Antok to my office and await my arrival."

Keith gave a curt nod and turned to leave but Allura's strong grip on his arm locked him in place. "You meet with all of Voltron, or you meet with _none_ of Voltron." She repeated and the responding silence spoke volumes.

It was nearly an entire dobash before Kolivan broke the mounting tension. "Very well." He said. "We will reconvene in one varga. Fayz, show the Altean Princess and the Paladins to their quarters. Red Paladin, remain here." This, Allura accepted. She turned to Keith and gave a curt nod, before joining the others as they followed who he now knew to be Fayz out of the main hall. The other Blades held their positions, not daring to move and Keith knew they had to be bursting with the need to know why he had been singled out.

"Red Paladin, remove your helmet so you may deliver your mission report." Keith smiled to himself. Removing his helmet would prove that he understood Galran, it would display his yellow sclera and his sharp teeth, and it would reveal his identity to those who knew him as a kit before he'd been shipped off to the Thaldycon base. Some of the Blades were hesitant to trust Voltron, showing that one of their own was the Paladin's second in command was Kolivan's way of proving that Voltron would not betray them without him having to say it. He was a brilliant leader.

Keith stepped forward and removed his helmet. Speaking in his native Galran, he addressed the intimidating man before him. "With all due respect Leader, there are some private details I would rather not discuss in open company." Kolivan's mask dissolved at the rather loud gasp that came from Antok. Keith had no warning other than the shiver that ran up his back. Trusting in his gut he ducked low and lunged quickly to the right as massive arms scooped up the air where he had been standing mere tics ago. "Miss me, Tok?" He teased and the massive Galra let out a belly laugh.

"Just as slippery as you've always been, kit!" Antok replied.

* * *

Kolivan had dismissed the others in the hall, leaving himself and Antok present to receive Keith's report. It was nice to be back, he noticed a few heads turn as the operatives exited, but no one dared to approach. It didn't matter; word of his arrival would spread through the base faster than a bad case of pox. Good gossip was like a virus, spreading and mutating as it went until it no longer resembled the original. He wondered what would eventually reach familiar ears. It wouldn't take long for Sergin, or Marra, or Regris to come looking for him. Stars, he hoped they were all on base.

"We will meet with your new team next quintant. In the mean time, there is some news you should be made aware of. You're little stunt at Central Command caused quite a commotion. The Blade of Marmora has seen an influx in members defecting from the Empire now that Emperor Zarkon no longer appears untouchable. So we thank you for that. Your Uncle Thace managed to avoid suspicion from the Emperor's Witch and has remained in his post on the Command Fleet. However, word of your rescue mission reached the far corners of the Empire and there have been whispers about a possible Galra Paladin. Apparently, the Red Lion challenged the Emperor himself into direct combat. Some are hailing you as brave, others as foolish. I'm inclined to agree."

"Agree with which, sir?"

"Both." Ahh, yeah, that checked out. Keith smirked at the light-hearted scolding. "There are a few of our operatives that require an extraction. To avoid any association with the Blade of Marmora, I was contemplating sending in the Voltron Paladins to retrieve them. What do you think? There are 2 operatives plus an engineer."

"I think that is a good idea depending on how you pair the Paladins."

"Hmm. How would you pair up your team?"

"It depends on the mission. Blue is our sniper, Black is a hand to hand combatant, Green is a tech, Yellow is a tank."

"And what are you?"

"A Blade." He said matter-of-factly. "I'll go where I'm assigned. I'll do what I'm assigned. And I'll return successfully." Keith watched Antok smile, and the edges of Kolivan's eyes crinkled with affection.

"Very well. I will assign the teams with the Princess and delegate your tasks accordingly."

"Who are we rescuing?"

"Slav -"

"Ugh, of course." Keith groaned and Kolivan growled at him for the interruption.

"- A new operative by the name of Vaig. And a high ranking Operative; Krolia."

Keith's heart stopped. _Mom_!


	15. Divide and Conquer

**Author's Note:**

Guess who's back - back again - Kars is back - tell a friend!

I'm back in snowy cold wintery Canada and have sadly bid farewell to sunny Miami. Our cruise was fun but I do not think boats are my gut's preferred method of travel. Aaaaannnnyyy waaaays! I'm home - I'm back to to writing - and Star Child has returned! I apologize for how long this chapter is but I needed to squeeze all of this in so that it didnt take away space from the next chapter which I am super excited to release.

\- KarsKars

* * *

**DIVIDE AND CONQUER**

Everyone had been gathered in the base's large briefing room. On the Castle of Lions the main bridge played the role of command centre, briefing room, and cockpit in addition to its many smaller uses. In contrast, the Blade's main briefing room was used for the sole purpose of preparing operatives for missions and doling out assignments, as well as the occasional meeting for strategy planning amongst the highest-ranking members of their order.

The large room was made of mostly the same dark metal utilized throughout the base, while also taking advantage of the natural rock formations, given that the base was carved deep into the heart of the asteroid. Each wall had thick metal beams as support structures holding up the metal ceiling, with the majority of the wall itself having been dug directly into the rock. Bands of purple light weaved their way across the metal floor making the main briefing room quite dim compared to the rest of the base, which itself was considerably dimmer than the Castle ship had been. Keith knew his eyes would be giving off a faint yellow glow in this room, allowing him to see clearly in the darker lighting. However, he could tell that Allura and all 4 of the Human Paladins were struggling. They were slowly migrating closer and closer to the screens in an attempt to see each other more clearly. Kolivan quirked a brow at him and Keith shrugged off their strange behaviour, joining his Leader as they approached the primary console.

In the centre of the large room was a low platform that held the large diamond shaped console with a flat interactive surface. The three walls not made of rock were actually screens on which intel needed for this, and any other mission, would be displayed. Two of these screens were only half the height of the room, while the centremost screen filled its wall fully. Underneath the side screens were large panels that opened up filing cabinets containing hard copies of all the Blade operative ID's, their missions, their codes, and more. After he'd passed his trials, Antok had taken him on a tour of all the places that had been restricted to non Blades, one of which was this briefing room. The Blade of Marmora's second in command explained the purpose of the files as well as their emergency protocols.

In the event of a security breach, the cabinets were to be opened and the room set ablaze, allowing all of the top-secret information to burn and protecting the identities of their undercover operatives. On the other hand, if their systems were to go down due to an outside force gaining remote technical access, then the documents in this room were the only connection they had to their operatives and hard earned intel. In that situation, all of their servers were to be destroyed, blocking the attacker from gaining any more information. These were the contingency plans that Kolivan had come up with, and they were just the tip of the asteroid – or 'iceberg' as the Human Paladins would say.

"This base was, until recently, run by an Empire Commander named Ranveig." Kolivan pulled up some information on the screens as he spoke, drawing the attention of their guests in the process. Without their helmets on, none of the Paladins would be able to understand a thing that Kolivan was explaining had it not been for Regris. The Blade's resident tech expert had developed, and implemented, a general translator for this room, similar to the ones the Castle-ship utilized, and it facilitated open communication between all present. Unfortunately, even he wasn't capable of creating a translator that allowed for instant visual translations of the text, charts, and graphs on the screen before them. This left the four Humans unable to follow along with any non-verbal information. Keith noticed Allura struggling to read modern Galran as well, and made a mental note to update the Castle's language archive. If anything, it would help Pidge with their experiments and programing.

After waking up this quintant, the entire team had chosen to switch into their casual clothing instead of their armour. All except Keith, who was now happily wearing his Blade suit for the first time in phoebs. Kolivan continued the debriefing by explaining the information displayed on the screens regarding Commander Ranveig's assignment. "He was developing a super weapon of some sort. We're not sure of the weapon's specs, but we do know that it is both incredibly powerful and dangerous."

"How did you learn all of this?" Allura piped up. "Are you sure you can trust the accuracy of your information?"

"We have a spy in Ranveig's camp who's managed to acquire high-level security clearance. She would never submit information that wasn't 100% accurate." Kolivan calmly addressed her concern and Allura gave a nod in reply, though her lips were still pressed tightly together. Keith rolled his eyes but Kolivan continued undeterred. "There are two Empire Commanders who have learned of the super weapon and are making plans to utilize it for their own glory. Commanders Trugg and Ladnok have blocked all incoming and outgoing communications rendering the base, and our operative, unreachable. The Commanders are ruthless and power hungry; a dangerous combination"

Keith stared at the official military identification images displayed on their screen, one for each of the two Commanders. Trugg was a tall and thin Galra with a shaven head, save for the long front locks that hung over her right eye covering half of her face. Ladnok was a broad woman who appeared to be of mixed heritage, though for her to reach the rank of Commander within the Empire, her 'imperfection' would have to be several generations back, deeming her _mostly_ pure in their eyes. He felt himself scowling at the thought and looked up to find Lance watching him. Though Keith quickly cleared his expression, he had always struggled to maintain the perfectly stoic mask that Kolivan wore so well.

"In order to complete all three extractions as quickly as possible, we will need to divide you into two teams. The first task force is to infiltrate the base, extract our spy, and destroy Ranveig's weapon. This mission is of the utmost importance. If either Commander acquires this weapon, it could tip the balance of power in their favour. Keith -" Kolivan turned to him, a stern look on his face. "- you will be leading this mission. Be sure you do not allow your feelings to cloud your judgement."

"I wouldn't -" he tried to protest but was immediately cut off.

"You have in the past. Remember, the mission is the ONLY thing that matters."

Keith nodded at his words. "Emotions are a luxury we cannot afford." He replied out of habit, the mantra flowing almost robotically from his subconscious. The corner of Kolivan's eyes crinkled ever so slightly and Keith knew that was as close to a smile of pride that the reserved man would give him. While he'd become increasingly more accustomed to the Human's exaggerated displays of emotion, it was comforting to be back home, surrounded by his own people, and his own culture. He gave a curt nod in acknowledgment and turned his attention to the screens once again.

"This is the operative your team will be extracting. Her name is Krolia."

"HOLY KALTENECKER! You guys seeing what I'm seeing? It's like a hot purple lady version of KEITH!" Lance squawked as his eyes bulged out of his annoying head.

Pidge snickered and Keith rolled his eyes. Arms folded across his chest with a huff, he leveled his gaze to glare at the Blue Paladin. "No shit moron, she's my mom." A round of gasps filled the room; the image of his pure Galra mother reminding them all that, while Keith may appear mostly Human, he's not.

Like Commanders Trugg and Ladnok, Kolivan had chosen to display Krolia's Empire Military Identification Image. She looked fierce, strong, and capable; Keith smiled at seeing her again, even if it was only a picture.

"The resemblance really is striking." Allura noted and her voice, though quiet, resonated in the calm room.

"Yeah" Lance cut in, quickly moving to her side and well out of striking distance from Keith, which the young Blade immediately found suspicious. He narrowed his eyes as the exuberant youth continued. "Guess bad hair styles run in the family, hey Keith?" he chuckled and the now irritated Red Paladin let out a sharp hiss of annoyance. Lance shrieked and jumped back, using the Princess as a shield.

A strong hand gripped his shoulder firmly and Keith felt the tips of Kolivan's claws as they dug into the muscle. The ensuing growl was enough to make him back down. Not that it mattered; he'd make Lance regret that comment later on the training deck. A devilish smirk crossed his face and he watched the Blue Paladin's throat bob as he swallowed nervously. Clearly, he was well aware of his impending doom.

"Kit, you will be taking the Yellow Paladin and two rebel fighters with you for this assignment. As I mentioned during your report, you are going as a Paladin of Voltron _not_ as a member of the Blade of Marmora, is this clear?" Keith gave a nod to his leader and met Hunk's nervous expression with a soft smile.

"Hunk and I make a great team." The relief that washed over the larger boy was instantaneous, his face melting into a more relaxed and comfortable state. While incredibly capable when pushed, Hunk was perpetually reluctant to take up arms and rush into a dangerous mission. He needed the confidence boost.

"Yeah, yeah we got this! It'll be like training in the sims at the Garrison all over again!"

"Damn right!" He agreed, meeting Hunk's fist-bump in the space between them. Kolivan arched a brow at the odd, distinctly Human, exchange and Keith merely shrugged in return. "Leader, have you already called for the rebels?"

"I have. Captain Olia is sending two of her crew to assist. You will pick them up on a transit base located in the Uwary system." Kolivan answered without taking his eyes off the screen and Allura frowned in obvious frustration.

"Would it not be simpler to have them arrive here? We could include the rebels in our debriefings."

Kolivan, gaze still firmly fixed ahead, immediately shot down the Princess' suggestion, stressing the Blade of Marmora's dedication to secrecy and security. He pointed out that no one, _no one_, was permitted the coordinates of their main base under any circumstances, not even fellow Blades. One of the base's operatives would always be sent out to retrieve and escort any visitors, keeping them in the cargo hold of their pod until arrival to prevent anyone from finding their way back. Voltron was the exception, and even for them it was mostly Keith's presence that had persuaded Kolivan to grant them access.

"And what about the other two missions?" Shiro added, drawing the attention of the room back to the task at hand.

"Slav and Vaig are the others." Kolivan pulled their images up on the screen and Keith shuddered at the mere sight of the eccentric engineer. If there was anyone in the Universe who could claim to be more irritating than Lance, it was Slav. "One is locked away inside a deep security Empire prison, and the other will need to be extracted from a cruiser in Commander Trugg's fleet."

"Well that's convenient!" Hunk jabbed sarcastically. "I take it Keith and I are extracting both his Galra mom and this other guy?" Keith rolled his eyes and Kolivan gave a curt nod. "Cool, cool, cool. Yeah - no problem. That's only like, twice the amount of work, but we got this. Yeah, we totally got this." He'd roll his eyes again but honestly, it was just a continuation of the same roll.

Kolivan stared at the Yellow Paladin a moment, assessing whether or not he really 'got this' and was up for the task, before moving on to the final assignment. "The other three Paladins will be infiltrating the highest security prison in the Empire." A joint groan from Lance and Pidge met the announcement, but all Keith could do was try his damnedest not to laugh.

"Beta Traz?" He clarified with a barely concealed chuckle. "They've got Slav in quiznaking Beta Traz? That basket case couldn't find his way out of a jacket, let alone a prison complex."

"Slav is located in a solitary cell somewhere in the heart of the prison." Kolivan continued, completely ignoring the interruption. "He is a brilliant engineer and his recovery from the Empire is vital to ensure his genius is not used to further their advancements."

"Wait." Pidge interjected, adjust their glasses and squinting up at the screen. "Is this the same Slav that designed the gravity generator used at the Thaldycon base?" Kolivan hadn't even finished nodding before the tiny Green Paladin was 'whooping' in excitement. "Oh this is sweet! I can't wait to talk to him about his designs! Maybe even pick his brain about - "

"Paladin. Remain present." Kolivan scolded. "We must complete these missions as quickly as possible. If we are to have any hope of defeating Emperor Zarkon, we will need all the help we can get. You will be infiltrating the prison, retrieving Slav, and returning to base as quickly as possible. The longer you take, the greater the chances of failure. Keith: take the Yellow Paladin down to the weapons vault and meet with Yessek. He will provide explosives for your assignment."

Lance whined about also wanting explosives, and how it was unfair that only _Keith_ got to use them. That is, until Kolivan death glared him and the boy disappeared into his jacket with a whimper. "I want explosives too, Lance. But anything we get from the Blades isn't going to work. Glara tech is genetically encoded remember? Without Keith, Shiro's arm is the only thing we've got that will interface with their systems." Pidge lamented and Lance shot back that Shiro was going with them; therefore they would be able to use the bombs. Keith rolled his eyes.

"You can't use what we don't quiznaking give you." He replied, his condescending tone just dripping with sass. A quick smack the back of the head paired with a low growl signaled Kolivan's disapproval.

"You are not being provided with explosives, as only Keith has received the proper training to use them. Since we are no longer being productive, this meeting is adjourned. Blue, Green, and Black Paladins: return to your quarters, Fayz will be along shortly to give you a basic tour of the places you are permitted while on base. Blade: you are dismissed with the Yellow Paladin to the weapons vault as discussed. Princess: please remain here for further negotiations." Kolivan's word was final, even Allura could sense that, and she gave a nod in agreement though Keith could see she was not pleased with being ordered around.

* * *

"What do you think is going to be on the tour?" Hunk asked, feeling the need to fill the silence with mindless chatter. Keith groaned.

"I don't know."

"He said 'basic' so like, what does that mean?"

"I don't know."

"Is it going to be like, the bathrooms? Or like, more training decks?"

"I. Don't. Know."

"You Galra really love your training and weapons so I bet there will be like – at least 3 more of them in the tour. Hey wait – how many training decks do you actually have on this base?"

"One on each level, and three on the main." Hunk stared back in silence and Keith groaned. "26, Hunk." The larger boy's jaw dropped to the floor as he gasped, clearly he did not expect the number to be so high.

They walked in silence for a few dobashes while Hunk processed this new information. _26 training decks and there was still usually a wait to use one_. Keith mentally grumbled to himself. Having a decent sparring partner was one the things he had been looking forward to the most and the second best part about being back on base. The actual best part? His old room! Galran sleeping accommodations had been whispering his name through the halls; begging him to wander his way back to his old room, back to his old bed, back to the comforts of home the moment they arrived. _Stars_ he'd missed sleeping on anything other than the hard slab the Alteans thought counted as a mattress. He couldn't wait to snuggle back into his pile of soft blankets again this night cycle; maybe he'd sneak a few onto the Castle ship with him. He'd tried to take some from Communications Base Thaldycon but they had a limited supply that Keith couldn't bring himself to empty. But the main base? They had storage rooms full of blankets. No one would notice if he took one – or two – or maybe three back to the Castle of Lions.

"Keith?" Hunk asked, poking him in the side and wearing a concerned look on his face.

"What?" he replied, his flat tone completely void of any emotion.

"I asked if you'd give me a tour since I'm missing the group tour."

"Oh – uh, yeah I guess."

"Can we start with the cafeteria?"

"How about we start with the weapons vaults? Since that's where we're supposed to be headed." Keith deadpanned. He increased their pace and heard the groans of protest from behind him.

Once they entered into the main area of the base, Keith activated the mask on his suit, blending in. He led the Human boy through the many corridors and passageways, passing by a seemingly never-ending supply of other Blades. Most stared quite obviously at Hunk, the first Human they had ever seen, but thought nothing of Keith's presence. It made him feel warm in his chest. He'd missed _belonging_. Every Blade wore their suits when traveling around the base and Keith was no exception. But since he hadn't lived on the main base in deca-phoebs, the majority of the residents didn't know what he looked like. Humans and actual Alteans were unlike anything they had ever seen.

At the Garrison he was the weird foreign kid who happened to be a hell of a lot more foreign than they knew. An actual alien trying desperately to adjust to the culture shock of life on Earth. On the Castle of Lions he was the Galra Paladin, the odd man out. The other Paladins were all Human and had their shared jokes, culture, and history, the Alteans had their own shared culture, and Keith had … Red. But she was more than enough. Things had gotten better though. The others had started including him in more of their 'hangouts' and he'd even introduced them to Monsters and Mana. Coran had jumped at the opportunity to play the role of Lore Master and they'd all had a really great time – Pidge and Lance the most it seemed. Pidge said the role-playing game reminded them of a 'Dungeons and Dragons' from Earth, while Lance just liked pretending he was a ninja assassin. A term Keith had previously heard him use in reference to the Blades. The Cuban had stalked his way down the halls during the Castle's night cycle for an entire movement afterwards, insisting that the others call him Pike while he did so. It was weird, but also kinda funny and Keith had laughed at the Blue Paladins expense a few times.

Keith and Hunk continued down the halls until they came to a small, but important, freight elevator. Opening the gates he ushered the other inside and selected the 3rd level. Silence surrounded them during their decent until Hunk started humming the awful music that played in the Castle's elevators. "WHY?" he practically shouted, causing the Yellow Paladin to flinch and choke on his tune. "Why do you Humans insist on constant noise? Just enjoy the silence every once in a while. Damn!"

The rest of the elevator ride was very awkward.

* * *

He'd never really gotten along with Yessek, the older Blade being somewhat of a tight wad. Keith and Regris' constant pranks didn't help their dynamic much either, but he was happy to see the other in a position he clearly enjoyed.

Yessek looked right at home as the new weapons guard. He had a long list of important duties including:

Cataloguing all of the items in the Blade's arsenal

Assigning weapons, ammunition, and explosives for missions

And most importantly; training Operatives on the proper use of their explosives

It was a position he obviously took very seriously and had insisted that Keith demonstrate his knowledge of the device before he would be permitted to take any. Naturally, the mischievous Paladin took the opportunity to detonate one of the smaller charges right then and there.

"Tell me that's a flash grenade!" Yessek panicked as Keith placed the device on the table.

"Okay …. it's not though." He grinned wickedly and hit the timer giving them 5 tics to duck for cover before the explosion.

"_STARS! What the quiznak, Keith!_" Yessek yelled; his claws jammed into his ears to stop the ringing. Keith was belly laughing under the table where he'd taken cover, the muffled sounds of the room coming into focus as he removed the impromptu protection of his palms from his own ears. Hunk had been told to wait outside since the vaults were a strictly Blade only area, but at the sound of the blast he had come bursting through the heavy doors, bayard in hand.

* * *

Since their mission was longer, Hunk and Keith had only been allowed to stay on base for one more night cycle before being ushered off bright and early the next quintant by Kolivan. Lance, Pidge, and Shiro were deemed 'unfit for missions' by Antok and found themselves on the training deck squaring off against a sparring partner each. Hunk would have been forced to join them if it weren't for the fact that they were leaving and needed to get some sleep. The Yellow Paladin has praised every deity he'd ever heard of for his good fortune in avoiding the 'training' their fellow teammates were now enduring.

Keith had only been able to catch the tail end of the 3rd round after returning from the vaults. But he was just in time to witness Shiro passing the authorization test. The man promptly joined him on the side-lines to watch the others.

Due to their role with the team, Pidge managed to take on only 1 opponent before being paired with Regris for a 'Hack-off' as they were calling it. Essentially, the first one to take over the other's tech was the winner. The catch was, they had to build their tech, program it, and defend it all while trying to take over and 'crash' the other's. Pidge had stars in their eyes and had eagerly accepted the task. It didn't take long before Regris' device was beeping in time with his cursing. Reg was the best damn tech the Blades had ever had – but NO ONE could have beaten Pidge. They had found the tiniest weakness in his defenses and exploited it until they were in and it was all over for Reg at that point. Pidge gloated as they bombarded his screen with their annoying dancing head animation, further frustrating him. After a few vargas the two had become more amicable, sharing tips and joking about lame techno stuff that Keith didn't understand. Though, he suspected Reg might still be slightly bitter for losing. Galra didn't handle defeat very well after all.

Lance was still on the training deck when Keith decided called it a night. The poor Human boy, dripping with sweat, had sparred his way through 9 opponents. But it wasn't enough for him to pass; he was still making sloppy mistakes and getting his ass handed to him. His sparring partners had praised his flexibility and reaction times, but ultimately it boiled down to the fact that the young Human just didn't have the combat training necessary to hold his own. Zavin had marveled at Lance's stamina, making some rather lewd observations that had even Keith blushing while Shiro had choked on his hydration pouch. He'd gone to bed as the older Galra praised the Blue Paladin for still having energy to spare after vargas of continuous training. No Galra could do that, not even Keith could last as long as Lance had.

The path in and out of the base only opened for 2 vargas every other quintant. The others would continue training until the path re-opened, at which time they'd be heading to Beta Traz to collect Slav. Since Coran and the Castle ship were not able to make it through the narrow path to the base, the other lions were still in their hangars and the Paladins would need to be flown to the Castle by one of the Blade pods. The path would then close and the Blade Operative would be trapped with Coran for two quintants until the path opened back up again. Allura had _not_ been pleased about this, but Keith felt bad for which ever Blade was chosen to go – Coran would talk their ear off.

"Grab Yellow, I'll wait here and you can follow me to the base." Keith commanded as he deposited Hunk in the Yellow Lion's hangar, the treacherous path sealing behind them. "Coran, can you open up that wormhole with the extra 'essence of Allura' the Princess left in the system?" He called over the coms, receiving a rather visceral reaction from Hunk as the squeamish Paladin objected to his wording.

_"You bet Number 4!"_ The eccentric Altean responded. _"Wormholing in 3 … 2 … 1!"_

* * *

Transit Base Uwary was tiny. One of the smallest outposts the Blade of Marmora had and located right on fringes of the Empire. Keith smoothly docked Red in one of the cargo bays, and watched as Hunk struggled to land the larger Yellow Lion beside him. A crowd had formed, having received word that two of the Voltron Lions would be arriving, and desperately wanting to see them and their Paladins.

He stepped out of his lion and approached the group, removing his helmet once the bay door sealed. His yellow eyes gave him away as half Galra and he gripped the outstretched forearm.

"I am Commander Senrok. Welcome, Red Paladin." Keith gave a curt nod in greeting. "We do not have translators on this base so your friend's helmet will need to remain on. I have been given strict orders from Kolivan himself that you are not to be delayed here longer than 2 vargas." Keith nodded his assent; he really wanted to get to his mom as quickly as possible anyways.

"Where are the rebels we are picking up?" he asked, scanning the hangar to see only Blades present.

"They arrived earlier this quintant and are in the kitchens having -"

"Kitchens? Keith, buddy! Did he just say kitchens? I think we should go there right now! Introduce ourselves to the rebels – maybe have a little snack - it's only polite!" Hunk interrupted, eagerly starting off in the direction of the hangar's exit.

"Dude, we have rations in the lions."

Hunk paled and spun around to face the Red Paladin. "Rations are _not_ food, Keith!" he argued, receiving an eye roll in response. One of the Blades present offered to escort Hunk to the kitchens while Keith spoke with Senrok. It took almost the entire 2 vargas allotted before Hunk returned, the rebels following behind.

Keith didn't recognize either of them, especially with their masks on. The one directly behind Hunk was hearing loose fitting dark blue pants, an orange and grey long sleeved top, and a mishmash of armour. Their chest plate was a lightweight metal strapped to their chest while another, larger plate, was hanging off their hip. They were bipedal and stood only a fraction shorter than Hunk, probably around the same height as Lance, with a slim frame.

The other was much taller, and built more like a stick than any living organism. They had long arms and legs, a narrow torso, and slim shoulders as well as a long, colourful tendril protruding from the top of their head. He'd met other members of this species before, but they were all half Galra and thus had a slightly curvier build. Mizor had lived on the main base where he'd seen him a few times, and one of Prince Lotor's Generals was a mix with this species as well.

"-ITH! KEITH! KEITH!" Hunk was chanting as he rushed across the hangar. The larger boy paused to catch his breath, nearly buckling over as his lungs burned with each intake. "OMG, Keith! Guess what I found! Another Hu-"

"Hey Loser." The first rebel said, cutting Hunk off and immediately pulling the agitated young Galra into a _very_ tight hug. Keith hissed violently at him, trying to scratch and squirm his way free before the realization hit him. This rebel had spoken English. No one spoke English. He took a deep breath and confirmed theory – their scent was certainly familiar. "Damn you're a lot feistier than I remember."

"Matt?" He asked, his voice coming out all breathy from how tightly he was being squeezed. The rebel laughed heartily and released him.

"Duh!" He said, still laughing, and removed his helmet. The boy, the HUMAN boy, standing before him looked mostly the same as the last time they had talked. Except – something was different …

"Cool scar. Come with a good story?"

"THANKS! And uh – not really. I got scratched by a tree branch while hiking through a dense forest. But give me a minute and I'll think of something all badass." Keith laughed at his friend, _stars_ he'd missed Matt.

"You might have a few more on your arms now to match it." Hunk winced as Keith picked pieces of shredded fabric from his claws.

"Sweet! I can say I wrestled a highly trained Galra." Matt winked at Keith and he rolled his eyes. "OH, this is Pozzi. She's one of our best spies."

The rebel stepped forward and grasped Keith's forearm. "Pleasure." She spoke with a permanent smile on her face and a high-pitched bubbly voice that he was 100% certain was going to get real annoying, real fast. She reminded him a lot of the Prince's annoying General, though probably less sadistic.

Keith took command of the situation and delegated Pozzi to go with Hunk in Yellow, while Matt rode with him in Red. He bid farewell to Commander Senrok and they were back on their way. Without the ability to wormhole, it was going to take several vargas to fly out to Ranveig's base; plenty of time for old friends to catch up.

* * *

The scene that awaited them when they finally arrived was not what he had been expecting. Debris was scattered as far as the eye could see. The two fleets were locked in a brutal battle, Ladnok's forces on the brink of defeat. Suddenly Keith worried that getting to Vaig was going to be a lot more of a risk than getting to Krolia.

Keith reached over and pulled up his communicator to scan for the Blade frequency of Vaig's device, locating it near the engine room of a cruiser right in the centre of the chaos. He let out a heavy breath and opened up the line, giving the command to convene in a small cargo hangar in 5 dobashes, with Keith departing in a maximum of 20 dobashes. Vaig didn't respond, but Keith's communicator gave an alert that he had received the message. The only thing left to do was hope their operative made it to the rendezvous point within the window he had given.

"Hunk, take Yellow and land behind the large outcropping on the planet, keep out of range of the cruiser's ion cannons. Red and I will meet up with you in 20 dobashes."

"_Or whenever you have Vaig?"_ Hunk clarified, misguidedly thinking the time was an estimated guess.

"No. With or without him." He replied to twin gasps on the other end. "20 dobashes, Hunk. Be ready." Keith ended the communication and brought Red into the hangar, activating her particle barrier as a precaution.

"That was cold." Matt commented. "We aren't really going to leave him behind, are we?" Keith stared blankly back at the young man, blinking and furrowing his brow.

"Why wouldn't we? The instructions have been given. He knows the protocols."

"Keith, if we leave him behind he'll be killed."

"I know it's hard for you to understand, the other Humans have a hard time with it too, but this is how the Blade of Marmora operates. You make it to the extraction point on time or you stay behind. End of story." He could see the conflicting emotions on the other's face and let out a long breath. "Matt, I've lost a lot people I considered friends because they got left behind. It sucks, but this is the reality of war."

"It's not how the rebels do it."

"Yeah well, we don't have the same luxuries you do. You're rebels, we're traitors. We are treated very differently and it's why the rules are so strict, why we stick so rigidly to our protocols. Believe it or not – they save lives. If we waited vargas for every late operative, then we risk the rescue team being captured or loosing our narrow window of escape." That seemed to end the conversation for the time being.

It didn't matter because Vaig made the extraction on time, with 5 dobashes to spare in fact. Keith shot Red out of the hangar at a break-neck speed and suddenly both fleets abandoned their battle to start attacking the Voltron Lion. He smirked, a grin of excitement spreading across his face. This is what he _lived _for; he was going to show these Commanders exactly what he could do, show them why the Red Lion had earned a reputation of being impossible to hit. Red purred at him in his mind and his grin spread wider.

Shot after shot rang out around him and Keith easily slipped by them all. Ducking and weaving his way around debris, pods, cruisers, and a mind boggling amount of unfriendly fire. But it didn't matter, they could chase him all they wanted, they were no match.

Calling Red's jaw blade, Keith rammed the side of a particularly aggressive cruiser, cutting open the entire haul and watching it explode behind him as he flew away from the carnage. Did he feel bad for essentially killing all of the soldiers, cooks, medics, techs, and Commanders on board? Of course he did, he wasn't a soulless monster. But he had no choice. He needed to clear out as many of the enemy ships as possible to ensure an easier exit after they got Krolia. He would offer a plea to the ancestors on their behalf when they returned to base, maybe spend a few vargas in the reflection pool for them. But right now – his mother's safety was more important.

"KEITH! Watch your six!" Matt yelled – right beside his ear. Keith scowled at him. The communications expert, turned rebel fighter, was ducking and wincing as debris sailed past their screens. "So many close calls!" He breathed out with a shaky voice. Keith rolled his eyes.

They entered the planet's atmosphere at a speed only Red was capable of and headed for the outcropping where the Yellow Lion was hiding in a cave. Red landed in her brother's shadow, and the three occupants ran out to rendezvous with the other two members of their team. Keith explained the mission, who they were looking for, what their roles were, and how much time they had. As expected, Vaig followed orders silently and swiftly. Moving into position as directed and hiding in the shadows to back up Matt as soon as they made it inside the base. His presence was not to be known, this mission was to appear as a Voltron attack, not the Blades. Since Vaig was still wearing Empire armour, he was the clear choice to serve as Matt's protection and lookout.

Matt defaulted to tech support, breaking into a control room with Vaig's help and setting up shop as their 'man in the chair'. Keith had given him a questioning look for his self-assigned title; he was clearly sitting on the floor. The Human rebel hacked into the systems, using Vaig's handprints for access when needed, or outright directing the Blade as to which buttons he needed to press. The rebel had gained full access to the entire base, their defenses, weapons, and internal systems in just under 6 dobashes. He grinned from ear to ear with pride while Pozzi praised his skills. Keith smirked, he could already hear Pidge claiming to be capable of the same in half the time.

Matt unlocked a security door for the three remaining team members and they rushed deeper into the base. Keith directed Pozzi to run ahead, using her invisibility to check if it was safe. Hunk squealed with excitement when she vanished from sight, tugging on Keith's armour and pointing at the spot where she had just been standing. Keith snickered, remembering the first time he'd seen Mizor do the same.

Alarms were blaring throughout the base now that the attacks had resumed and their time was running out. They rounded a few more corners, passed through a few more overridden security doors, and eventually found themselves inside a large empty room. There was a heavy security door that Matt insisted wasn't connected to any of the main systems; in fact he claimed the entire room was entirely separate from the rest of the base's controls. The mystery door, and the twin consoles on either side of the room, ran on a closed circuit that could only be accessed manually with the correct codes.

Or, as Matt so eloquently put it _"This bitch is locked tight. It's hella secure dude. Like, Fort Knox has wet dreams about this level of security."_ Hunk had erupted into a fit of laughter and Keith was mostly just glad he'd learned about Fort Knox at the Garrison.

"Heh, I understood that reference!" He chuckled.

_"Good for you, Cap."_ Matt snickered back over the coms and Hunk was having trouble containing himself.

Keith scowled this time. "I'm not a Captain." He muttered, checking his wrist gauntlet for Krolia's signal and threatening to cut off Matt's video feed of the room if he didn't stop laughing. The two Humans were now joking amongst themselves about someone named Steve, or Roger, or something – Keith was getting annoyed. They were on a mission – a mission more important any mission they had ever been on! More important than storming Central Command to retrieve a pissy Allura, more important than breaking into Beta Traz to steal back Slav, and certainly more important than whatever stupid Earth joke he wasn't being included in. He wasn't bitter – he being responsible.

"GUYS! Focus! This is a serious mission." He scolded and directed Pozzi to lead the charge to the location his mother's signal was coming from.

They found her pretty easily. Matt unlocked the doors along the way, and even deactivated any sentries that they encountered. The problem was, she wasn't alone. Surrounding her were several sentries on a different level of clearance. Meaning Matt wasn't able to deactivate these ones on the fly. He needed time to hack into them. Pulling his bayard, Keith ordered the rebel and his fellow Paladin to attack the sentries. They were faster than Matt, taking down all 6 sentries before he cracked the security codes on them.

"_I almost had it!"_ he'd objected. "_Just a few more seconds and they would've been working for us."_

Hunk's sympathetic voice replied saying, "Oh I don't doubt it, buddy. You'll get the next ones."

"You're late." Krolia cut in, her voice clipped, clearly annoyed at the delay. "We don't have much time. Follow me – and try to keep up." She tore off down the hall, Keith hot on her heels with Pozzi and Hunk trailing behind. It didn't take long for the rebel to catch up, her long limbs allowing her to run at a faster pace. Hunk on the other hand, was falling further and further behind.

"What is taking you so long?" She scolded him. "I thought Humans were faster than this. You're slowing down the mission." Hunk was wheezing, desperate for air and water as his energy levels plummeted quickly.

"We're almost there." Keith called over his shoulder and received a puzzled and annoyed look from his mother. "Human – not Galra. They respond better to praise and need an incentive." She rolled her eyes and Keith smirked. Finally, someone understood his plight.

The group ran down the same halls as before, coming back upon the same high security room. Except this time, one of them actually knew what to do. Krolia immediately made a dash for the primary console, feverishly typing away.

"I'm guessing Ranveig's dead, since Commander Trugg is attacking my base." She deadpanned and Keith smiled, not much got past her.

"Yeah." He replied, seamlessly switching back to his native Galran. "And she's on the verge of crushing your forces. We have to destroy the super weapon now, before it falls into the wrong hands."

"Wait wait wait! I thought the scary Blade guy said there were _two_ scary Commander Ladies attacking?" Hunk sputtered, his Paladin armour allowing him to follow the private conversation.

"Ladnok is dead." Keith dismissed. "Her fleet was annihilated by Trugg's forces while I was flying through the debris field."

_"Uhhh guys? Might want to hurry up in there. Trouble incoming!"_ Matt called over the coms and almost immediately another set of alarms started blaring. Both Keith and Krolia groaned, their hands flying to cover their sensitive ears as the sound grew louder and louder with each added alarm.

"THIS IS RIDICULOUS!" he shouted over the noise. "CAN'T YOU TURN THEM OFF?" before an answer could be given, the door to the room whooshed open and more sentries rushed in.

Hunk yelped, Pozzi disappeared, and Keith drew his bayard. He charged at the robot soldiers, dropping to his knees at the last second to cut the first one off at the leg, springing back up to sever its torso as it fell. He quickly spun around and swiped at the chest plate of the next, deactivating it instantaneously and driving his red and white sword into another. Krolia continued typing, but spun around when Keith was flung to the ground, landing with a heavy grunt and painful crack of his ribs. She grabbed her blaster and shot at the sentries, picking them off one by one with perfect head-shots.

Keith rolled to his side, reaching his hand out and willing his bayard to come to him. It appeared in his grip, instantly transforming into a sword as he slammed it straight through the chest of his would be assassin. He used the momentum of the sentry's fall to propel himself into the air, flipping around to adjust his position, and landing on the back of yet another sentry; cutting its head clean off. Keith dismounted, landed gracefully on his feet, only to immediately take off at a run. He jumped and spun to avoid a blaster shot then dropped to his knees again as another rang over his head. A bright blue blast took out the final sentry and Keith turned to see that Hunk had his back. In total, 11 had come to attack and all 11 now lay scattered across the floor.

"_OMG am I ever glad we were recording!"_ Matt cheered over the coms. "_That was sick!"_

"Where's the rebel?" Krolia called and her question was met with a menacing laugh. They all turned in time to see Trugg standing in the doorway, a soldier and 5 more sentries surrounding her, with Pozzi at her feet.

"Surrender or die!" She commanded and to his utter shock and disbelief, Krolia backed down. She dropped her blaster on the floor in front of her and raised her hands above her head, garnering a satisfied grin from Trugg.

"What are you doing?" Keith seethed under his breath. "Mom, we can take her!"

"We can make a deal." She responded, holding eye contact with the Commander.

"MOM?" Trugg laughed. She turned to the soldier on her right and jerked her head in Keith's direction. "Kill the wretched half-breed." She spat at him for good measure before meeting Krolia's stare. "_Then_ we will see about the terms of your surrender, Officer." Keith growled at her and she only laughed harder. He was seething, pure anger and hatred for this awful woman was radiating out of his very being. A deafening roar sounded in the distance, shaking the ground the base was built on, and it was now his turn to laugh. "What was that?"

"That -" he smirked, "is the cavalry."

"Trugg – we can still make a deal before my son destroys your remaining forces." Keith's heart swelled with pride at his mother's words and he watched the look of concern, no matter how fleeting, as it crossed over the Commander's face.

"And why should I trust you?"

"You don't have a choice. I'm the only one who knows the access codes for the super weapon." Krolia reasoned. "If you try to break in, the room will self-destruct. Once we're clear of the base, I'll give you the codes."

She thought it over for a tic before agreeing all too quickly. Keith suspected she was going to order her fleet to shoot them once they handed over the codes, but he knew his mother would never lead them into further danger. She had a plan; he just had to trust her.

* * *

Pozzi had been ordered to stay behind since the Altean Paladin armour didn't interface well with the communication systems built into the Empire's armour. It didn't really make much sense to him – they'd communicated just fine before, but apparently that had always been through a lion and not their armour coms. Either way, Matt's overly technical explanation only served to give Keith a headache. In the end, they would have to radio the cheery rebel to relay the message. Essentially, Krolia would message Matt through the Blade communicators, and Matt would use his rebel communicator to give the codes to Trugg through Pozzi. Hunk and Matt had vehemently protested the plan, but Krolia tuned them out and ordered the group to their positions. Once they were safely inside the lions (Matt in Yellow with Hunk, Vaig and Krolia in Red with Keith) she sent the codes and ordered Pozzi to disappear and run.

"I can't believe you'd give them the weapon!" He scolded after the link was severed. "You compromised the mission." The fleet's ion canons were charging as they prepared to fire on the two lions. "This is why you shouldn't have made that deal! We don't have Pozzi, we're about to be fired on, and you just handed that weapon over to Trugg."

"No, Keith. I handed them over to it." No sooner did the words leave her mouth, than a blood curdling shriek rang over the coms.

"What was that?" Keith asked. "Is everything alright over there?"

Hunk answered immediately. _"The scream wasn't us. It came from Matt's_ _communicator_."

_"POZZI?"_ he heard Matt yell, followed by growling, more screaming, a wet ripping sound, the crunch and groan of metal, and finally footfalls. _"Pozzi – come in! Are you alright? POZZI? What's going on? Answer me!"_

_"I made it out. That – that, __**thing**__ just skipped right past me. I'm almost at the exit!"_

"Keith, get us out of here." Krolia commanded. "Yellow Paladin – retrieve the rebel and fly to safety. Do not let the creature on-board."

_"I'm sorry, WHAT? What creature? Are you serious right now?"_ Hunk whimpered about crazy space monsters under his breath, but he pulled himself together and Yellow set out back towards the base.

"Keith – under no circumstances are you to go anywhere near that base. This Lion cannot go back, I organized our group as such so all of us Galra were together. I'll explain everything when we have returned to Kolivan." He nodded and waited for Hunk to confirm his retrieval of Pozzi before messaging Coran for a wormhole.

* * *

They had made it back faster than anticipated and were now stuck on the Castle of Lions while waiting for the path to re open. Pozzi questioned why they didn't just wormhole from Transit Base Uwary to Commander Ranveig's base, and Hunk explained how it all worked. The wormholes extended from the Castle of Lions, meaning they could only transport you FROM the Castle, or TO the Castle.

Keith was sitting in his Red Paladin chair; watching Matt as he worked on the Green console. He was creating some program that would process the data he'd extracted from Ranveig's base. The complex algorithm was designed to sort through experiment logs, communications, prisoner records, and more.

Krolia and Vaig were standing by the main controls, talking with Coran about the specs of the Castle ship and preparing their report for Kolivan.

Zavin, who'd been the one to drop off the Beta Traz team, had sequestered himself away in the Castle's archives in a last ditch attempt to preserve his sanity. Keith used the Red Paladin console to check the Castle's systems and found that the language files for Galran and Common had been updated. Scanning through other updates, he found Zavin had been keeping himself very busy. The Castle's star charts had also been updated, adding in the new planets discovered over the past 10,000 deca-phoebs since the war had started. He'd also removed others that had been destroyed, including Altea. Though a marker had been left to denote where the planet had once been, the removal of the Altean home world was _not_ going to go over well with the Princess.

Alteans, like Humans, were incredibly sentimental. The Empire and Blades had updated their charts thousands of deca-phoebs ago, leaving only a marker in its place, as Zavin had just done. Daibazaal remained on their maps however, as the husk of the Galra's former home still remained. The gravity of the now long dead planet would still need to be accounted for when flying through that region of space. Altea, on the other hand, was no more. The inclusion of an entire planet that no longer existed would throw off calculations and send a precisely mapped out route wildly off course. Its removal was only logical – but he doubted Allura would see it that way. Unfortunately, Keith didn't know enough about Altean programing to add the planet back in while canceling out any effects it could have. So he just left it. Hopefully the Princess didn't consult her star charts for a while.

* * *

Later that quintant, approximately 6 vargas after they had arrived back, the Beta Traz team returned to the Castle and a _very_ frazzled looking Shiro stepped onto the main bridge. It took Keith one look at the pulsing vein in the middle of his forehead, the tightly clenched jaw, and the heavy bags under his eyes to know they had let Slav in the cockpit. Rule number one of traveling with Slav – ALWAYS LOCK HIM FAR, FAR AWAY FROM YOU.

"You know, Shiro-" Keith began, a painfully fake layer of concern to his voice. "- you're looking a little stressed. How'd the mission go?" The resulting glare caused him to fall into a snicker-fit as he watched his Earth brother suffer.

The other Paladins filed in with Slav shuffling behind them. The neurotic little bastard took one look at the room and started muttering about the probability of one of the 3 Galra attacking him. It was very high.

"Oh _stars!_" Krolia groaned. "Kolivan did not inform me that you were retrieving Slav from Olkarion." She had the same dark energy hanging over as Shiro and it made him snort. His mother shot him a glare.

"They didn't." He replied with a lack of enthusiasm. "The moron got himself captured and they had to break into Beta Traz to get him back."

"Should have cut our losses." She muttered and Keith was back to snickering, receiving a wink from his mother in the process.

Their comments had alerted the others to the presence of the Blades and rebels. Shiro and Pidge finally noticed Matt who was still hunched over the Green Paladin's console, typing away at his program and completely oblivious to the new arrivals.

"Matt?" Pidge's hesitant voice asked. They spoke in a near whisper, as if raising the volume would risk him disappearing. When the rebel didn't respond Shiro spoke up, calling his name louder and in a much more commanding way. The next tic, Pidge had launched them self across the room and was now clinging to their brother like baby brakken.

"Pidgey, de koala-fy yourself and let a guy breathe." Matt grumbled, but there was no heat to it. His face was split wide in a loving smile and his eyes were twinkling as they held back the explosion of emotions that he was struggling to keep a lid on. Keith rolled his eyes at the distinctly Human display. He'd just reunited with his mother for the first time in deca-phoebs and all he'd gotten was a scolding for being late. He smiled to himself; he'd missed her a lot.

A sudden hiss echoed in the room and all eyes turned to Zavin who had Slav lifting up his pant leg. "What are you doing?" The Galra seethed through clenched teeth, kicking his foot to shake off the 8-armed pain in the ass.

"I need to see your ankle! It is very important that you do not have a scar on your left ankle or we could all be in danger!" Zavin hissed violently at him again, increasing the power of his kick and sending the eccentric genius flying into a wall. He half hissed, half yelled a 'get off me' as he did so. All eyes were focused on the exchange, Pozza and Hunk were clearly terrified, Matt and Coran were in shock, but everyone else had had the pleasure of meeting Slav already and were somewhat expecting this.

It took several dobashes before the room calmed down and Slav conceded that they were not going to be sucked into one of the black holes. Keith had chuckled to himself the entire time, muttering _'classic Slav'_ under his breath.

* * *

That night was spent on the Castle ship and all three of their Galran guests lamented the sleeping conditions. Krolia had asked why they were being kept in the prisoner holding cells and Keith had burst out laughing, which only served to remind him that he'd been thrown around during the extraction mission. Krolia's immediate and obsessive attention to him was embarrassing.

The thing about Galra is, while not publicly affectionate or overly generous with praise and adoration, they are incredibly protective of their family units; especially kits. Even though Keith was now an adult, Krolia insisted she would forever see him as her tiny and fragile kit. He hated it. He hated ever tic of it.

She meticulously checked him over for injury and demanded that Lance, the resident of the Castle standing closest to them, direct her to their med bay. When he hesitated, saying Keith seemed perfectly fine, she growled so fiercely that Zavin and Vaig stepped in to prevent the Blue Paladin from being eviscerated. Shiro ended up leading them all to the medbay, despite Keith's insistence that he was, in fact, completely fine.

Coran performed a scan and it turned out he was not fine. Three cracked ribs, a torn muscle or two, and a small amount of internal bleeding. Krolia freaked out. She wrapped herself around him, purring up a storm to soothe him. But he wasn't worried; he'd had worse. Being the most capable hand-to-hand combatant on team Voltron meant he'd spent countless vargas in the med bay. The worst injury being a shot from a blaster that had nearly taken off his entire left arm. This was nothing in comparison, a varga or two in the healing pod and he'd be good as new.

Keith put on the special pod suit and climbed in, all three Galra watching with nervous expressions. Nothing like this existed, Altean tech was so far beyond anything they had ever seen it may as well be magic. He smiled at Krolia and let her know that he'd be fine.

"You said that earlier." She scoffed at him and Keith rolled his eyes. She wasn't exactly wrong. Coran typed a few commands into the control pad and Krolia leaned inside the pod to lick the side of his cheek. "I love you. I'll be right here when you wake up." A purr built its way up his chest but Keith was painfully aware of the other Paladins and stuffed it back down. Instead, he smiled at his mother, a face he hadn't seen in person since he was 15 deca-phoebs old, and the last thing he saw as the healing pod sealed around him.


	16. Battle Plans

**BATTLE PLANS**

The good thing about Altean healing pods is they can restore a person from the brink of death back to full health in as little as a few quintants. The not so good thing is, once that pod seals, you aren't coming out until the job is done. No matter what. As it turned out, Keith only needed a little over a varga in the pod; long enough to allow his Earth friends (now sworn enemies) to drag embarrassing kit-hood stories out of Krolia.

The pod began the slow process of waking its patient and running a final diagnostic before it would release him. With the unit sealed he was only able to make out a faint muffled sound for each individual present as they spoke. Though he couldn't move his muscles, his eyes were open and he was able to look around the room. Sitting on the floor were Hunk, Lance, Vaig, and Shiro while Pidge and Matt were standing behind them, backs turned to his pod. Pozzi, Slav, and Coran weren't present in his limited field of view, but he could hear the Altean's distinct voice off to the side where he knew the controls were located. Since the man was speaking to someone, and all others were accounted for, Keith drew the conclusion that the two were with him.

Leaning against the far wall was Krolia. The group had themselves situated in such a way that each of them could see her as they spoke. Zavin stood beside her, a respectful distance away, while still close enough to jump between his superior officer and the others if needed.

Keith wiggled his fingers slightly at his side, the numbing effects of the pod slowly wearing off, and listened to the muffled voices of the Paladins as they spoke over one other. The pod's final stages would take 5 dobashes to complete, but it felt like an entire extra varga while trapped inside. He heard Lance's mumbles, interrupted by Hunk's mumbles, then a louder Lance and a heated Hunk, before a parental Shiro intervened. Mumble-y Pidge spoke and he heard Krolia respond, and respond, and respond – clearly telling a story. The others were enraptured, their unwavering focus never leaving her as she spoke. Keith rolled his eyes and swore this was going to be the last time the Universe saw any of the Voltron Paladins alive.

He had just started thinking of the best ways to 'handle' each of them (Lance and Pidge he could take in a one on one fight. Hunk would take care of himself if Keith put out a fresh diffry berry pie. Shiro he'd let live, he still owed him for all the times the older had saved his ass back at the Garrison.) when the pod released and Keith stumbled out. "For how long?" he heard Hunk ask, tears in his eyes, and the strain of trying to hold back a laugh evident in his voice.

"The rash cleared within a movement." Krolia responded, her voice flat and dismissive as usual.

"But he was still bright pink for a solid phoeb afterwards." Zavin added while Krolia nodded along unhelpfully. Lance choked out an _'amazing' _and Pidge was clinging to Matt for dear life. Which was good – Keith was definitely going to kill them. All of them. He didn't realize he was growling until Krolia looked up at him in alarm, her face breaking into a soft smile as she pushed off the wall and crossed the room to stand nearer to him. "I monitored the status of the pod, and you seemed to be healing adequately, so we moved to more comfortable positions. How do you feel?" He raised his eyes to meet hers then narrowed them, letting her know he was annoyed. She merely rolled her own and swatted the back of his head. "You're clearly fine." She deadpanned, but pulled him in for a quick hug nonetheless.

"Ya'll are dead!" Keith seethed through clenched teeth over his mother's shoulder. It only served to make Lance laugh harder.

They'd split up shortly after that, each of them heading back to their assigned rooms for the night. Keith grabbed Krolia's arm, tugging her with him in the direction of the Red Lion's hangar. She'd protested at first, but he ignored her and pressed on. "I commandeered some extra bedding from base and stowed it in Red's cargo hold. Help me sneak it into my room?" For a moment Keith thought she might scold him, but instead an all too familiar mischievous grin spread across her sharp features. Maybe Kolivan was right, maybe he was far too much like his mother. But Krolia was awesome and Keith would take the comparison as a compliment. He smiled back at her and the mother son duo used their deca-phoebs of covert operative training to tiptoe silently through the halls, each buried under an armful of incredibly fluffy blankets.

She stayed in his room that night, curled up in his bed with him, and purring softly as she lightly dragged her claws through his hair. He was well of aware of the fact that, soon, he would be too old for this. These soft moments were nearing their end and it hurt that he'd missed so much of it to the war. His mother had been stationed on Ranveig's base for most of his younger years and after she'd returned, he went and had himself banished to a remote communication base.

Keith let out a heavy breath and snuggled into his mother's side, returning the purr. He may be an adult, but no one was here to judge him. He'd been fighting this war since he was still a kit, so he'd allow himself this moment of weakness. He slept better that night than he had in deca-phoebs.

* * *

In the morning the various residents of the Castle, both permanent and temporary, gathered in the kitchens for breakfast. Hunk had made two different meal options. The first was some weird brownish grey slop that he dubbed 'space porridge'. The second was as close to traditional Earth bacon and eggs as he could get with ingredients purchased at the space mall. Neither looked particularly appetizing, but the smell of the crispy blue bacon reminded Keith of his dad's cabin. A sudden pang in his chest drew him back to the memories of the black-haired man nearly starting a grease fire as he tried to make Keith breakfast on his birthday. It had been one of the last weekends at the cabin, given that his birthday is in October and they'd taken off in the Blue Lion less than a phoeb later.

A nudge to his arm had him meeting his mother's concerned gaze and pulling him from his reverie. He gave her a small smile, nodding to let her know he was fine. Lance shrieked in the background and their tender moment was ruined. Keith turned to find Zavin and Vaig eating breakfast with an absolutely disgusted looking Lance pointing exaggeratedly at them.

The two Galra had obviously found the fridge that housed all of the Paladin's meat and had each filled up a plate. They were currently sitting at a table, tearing into the fresh steaks with blood dripping down their chins and claws. Keith was maybe a little jealous, their breakfast looked substantially better than the questionable blue bacon. He made his way over and snatched a yalmore steak off Zavin's plate to a series of aggressive hisses and a swipe of the other Galra's claws. Laughing, he scurried away to stand with the Paladins; his incredibly quick reflexes letting him escape unscathed.

Vaguely Keith was aware of Lance's shifting gaze as it followed him from his heist to the safety of his friends. The Blue Paladin's stare became even more intense as Keith bit into his pilfered meal.

"_Mierda_! Mullet, that's disgusting!" Lance squawked and Keith rolled his eyes.

"You think that's bad? When we were in the space mall he did the same thing! Except – except, he licked the blood off his hands!" Hunk sputtered and Keith laughed, his breakfast staining his teeth.

"Like this, Hunk?" he smirked, lifting his right hand and slowly licking the trail of blood that ran along the side. Keith pushed the index finger into his mouth and gave it a good suck, withdrawing it to let his tongue flick against the tip of the claw, before sucking it back in with a moan. Zavin choked. Shiro smacked him.

"Mature." The Black Paladin scolded, but Keith was laughing too hard to care.

"How old _are_ you, Red Paladin?" Vaig asked and Krolia growled at him causing the Blade's eyes to shoot wide open. "Not old enough I see." He muttered to himself, withering under her intensity, and averting his gaze quickly. Keith merely laughed.

They ate their breakfasts, naturally segregating themselves. The five Humans, rebel, and Altean ate at the large dining table, while the three Galra sat at the smaller round table off to the side. Keith stood awkwardly in the middle of the kitchen for a few tics before shrugging and moving to sit at the smaller table. Shiro had given him a sad look but Keith merely tipped his plate to show the scrambled eggs, hash browns, and raw meat - the older Human blanched. He'd obviously made the right choice.

After breakfast they still had several vargas to kill before the path opened up again. Keith pulled Hunk aside, instructing the Yellow Paladin to make something vegetarian for the Princess since she would be hard-pressed to find anything to eat in the cafeteria of a Galran base and, after 4 quintants, she would be getting pretty desperate. When he turned away he caught Coran smiling warmly at him and Keith blushed in embarrassment.

Zavin, Vaig, and Krolia followed an excited Lance to the training deck to check out the electric maze, while a very on edge Pozzi followed Matt to Pidge's room in an attempt to wake the beast. Shiro had started cleaning up before being shooed out of the kitchens by Hunk and deciding instead to join Lance on the training deck. Coran was still finishing his 'space porridge' before he went off to do Coran things. Honestly, Keith had no idea what the crazy Altean did around the Castle, he suspected the man just sat in the engine room drinking nunvil and pretending to make repairs.

Keith didn't really know what to do. He could go to the training deck and watch Lance get his ass handed to him – that could be fun. Or he could follow Coran and demystify the moustachioed ginger. But really, he should catch up to Matt because he actually needed to speak with the gremlin once it was awakened. He chuckled at that line of thought – it made Pidge sound like a dragon, which - yeah, that tracked.

Calmly Keith made his way down the halls feeling rather optimistic. He'd had an incredibly relaxing sleep that night cycle, his belly was nicely full of meat from a large breakfast, and his mission report to Kolivan was going to be a breeze on account of everything having gone so smoothly. For a moment he could have added a little skip to his step, that's how great his mood was. Which is why the sudden screaming took him by surprise, and the blaster shots made him pickup his pace to a run. A terrified Pozzi rushed past him in the opposite direction, shouting that they were under attack, and Keith drew his blade.

He charged around the corner, running for the Green Paladin's room as fast as his feet could carry him. Matt was on the floor, hunched over himself with his back against the wall opposite Pidge's door, and legs splayed out in the hall. His blaster lay on the floor beside him and he appeared to be unconscious. The door to Pidge's room was wide open and Keith could hear the hysterical sounds coming from within. Carefully, he tightened the grip on his blade, feeling the pulse of life as it shifted into its awakened state. He crept forward; ever so carefully keeping his foot falls as silent as possible, and pressed himself against the edge of the frame. He took one final breath, slow and calm, steady – then launched into the dark room. The faint purple glow of his blade was the only light, but it was enough, his superior vision allowing him to see clearly as he took in the chaos of his surroundings.

"Are you _quiznaking kidding me!_" he screamed and Pidge fell out of their bed from laughing so hard. "What the hell happened?" he yelled at them, kicking their side lightly when they didn't respond. "Hey, Pidge!" he commanded again to no avail. "PIDGE! PI-KATIE!" he finally called and the tiny Green Paladin kicked him back.

"Don't call me that!"

"Then answer me! What the hell happened? Why was Pozzi screaming? Why is Matt unconscious? _Why are you laughing?"_ He sheathed his blade, once again in dagger form, and reached his hand out to help the psycho to their feet. There was a scorch mark on the back wall and smouldering robot parts lay scattered on the floor beneath it. The rest of Pidge's room was an absolute disaster zone, filled with piles of parts and various gadgets they had been tinkering with. In all honesty, it reminded Keith of Matt's dorm back at the Garrison.

"Matt opened my door and Rover beeped at him. The pink one panicked and took off running. Matt freaked out and shot my poor baby, then I shot him with my bayard for pay back!"

"How'd he end up unconscious in the hallway?"

"Pfft. Pussy - can't take a little zap." They rolled their eyes but Keith had a suspicion that 'a little zap' was probably a lot stronger than necessary. _Poor Matt_. He shook his head and walked over to the panel by the door, activating the PA system.

{ "Attention!" } He commanded into the mic, hearing his own voice echo through the halls { "We are not under attack. I repeat – we are NOT under attack." } After disconnecting, Matt began to stir.

"HEY! You owe me a new pet you asshole!" Pidge hollered at him, flying out of their room to press a tiny, but bony, finger into his chest. Keith rolled his eyes; praising the ancients for saving him the burden of biological siblings as he abandoned his friends to duke it out. He would just speak to Pidge when they got back to base.

* * *

Krolia, Zavin, and Vaig were returning in the small blade pod with Krolia in the pilot's seat. Shiro, Lance, Hunk, Pidge, and Matt were to join Keith in Red. Pozzi flat out refused to step foot on a Galran base, opting instead to remain on the Castle of Lions with Coran. Which was fine by Keith because she was starting to wear on his last nerve anyways. Speaking of annoying – Slav hadn't been seen until the absolute last moment before their departure. Shiro had gone off in search of the chronic pain-in-the-ass and dragged him back amongst a slew of protests. He'd apparently been concerned that going in the pod with the Blades would result in them being sucked into one of the black holes, while going in the Red Lion would result in him being ejected into space by her Paladin. Keith couldn't deny that it was a possibility.

Because Red was one of the smaller Lions her cargo hold was far too cramped for all of the passengers, and there was no quiznaking way he would allow them all in the cockpit again. Keith and his fellow Blades watched with amused expressions as the five Humans battled it out in a tournament style round of rock-paper-scissors to see who got to ride with Keith and who had to ride with Slav. It had taken him vargas to learn how the game worked back at the Garrison.

_~~~ "Rock beats paper, paper beats scissors, and scissors beat rock." He said, making the symbols with his hands as he went._

_"NO! OMG what is wrong with you? Rock beats SCISSORS, scissors beat paper, and PAPER BEATS ROCK!" Nadia all but shouted, her arms thrown wide in the air above her head. He could almost see the steam as it sizzled from the heat of her fury. _

_"Why does paper beat rock? That makes no sense!" _

_"Why would scissors beat rock?" she replied incredulously._

_"Exactly! You're whole game is stupid." He sat down with a decisive thud on the bed, crossing his arms in the process and muttering under his breath in Galran about Humans and their ridiculous culture. _

_"You know, one of these days I'm just going to learn Danish and yell right back at you. I know you're cussing about me." Her hands had found their way to her hips and she was leaning over him in a power pose that he was all too familiar with. So many times he'd had this pose pulled on him by Marra – so he stuck his tongue out at her._

_"Go ahead." He replied with a tone laced heavily in sarcasm. Ina had taken over after that, stepping in and using a much more logical approach to teach him._

_"Scissors beat paper because they cut it -" she displayed this by using her fingers to 'cut' his hand. "- paper beats rock because it can cover it up -" she displayed this by forming his hand into a fist and wrapping her own around it. " - and rock beats scissors because it crushes them -" she displayed this one by shaping his fingers into a V and lightly tapping her fist against his hand. "- understand?" she asked and he had to be honest – no, he still didn't get it! Why couldn't they just toss a quiznaking coin or something?_

_Keith shook his head and Nadia groaned from the other side of the room. "Well, what do you not understand?" Ina asked with an admirable amount of patience._

_Nadia muttered "The core concept." condescendingly under her breath and Keith shot her a glare. It was almost a varga later that he was finally able too play the stupid game without messing it up. "Great! Now lets teach him hunter-bear-wife!" Nadia excitedly exclaimed, forgetting the trouble of just a few moments prior, and Keith was groaning all over again. It was going to be a long night. ~~~_

Apparently Pidge and Hunk had won the tournament but, as Slav rambled on, Shiro squeezed his eyes shut so tightly that a vein on his forehead was pulsing and it prompted the compassionate Hunk to give up his spot. It was now Keith, Pidge, and Shiro in the cockpit while Lance, Hunk, Matt, and Slav sat in the cargo hold. Keith launched the Red Lion from her hangar, following the Blade pod through the treacherous pathway and landing on the surface of the asteroid. He opened the hatch and let the passengers out; making sure everyone had their helmets and suits on before stepping onto the surface.

Like the Paladins, Matt marveled at his former home the moment they landed, blown away by the 'other worldliness' of it. "Damn, no wonder you killed it in the sims!" he said, staring behind them at the narrow route he had just expertly guided them through. Keith smirked in pride but grabbed his friend by the collar of his suit and dragged him into the base.

* * *

Kolivan was not impressed at yet another unauthorized visitor. Apparently, both Matt _and_ Pozzi were supposed to remain on the Castle ship until the Paladins could return them to their crews. Keith's punishment for not having listened to this crucial information during the briefing was an intense sparring session. He was to head straight for the training deck after their reports and meet up with whomever was on duty; he wasn't allowed to leave until he literally could not fight any longer. Shiro deemed this unfair, attempting to intervene by coming to his defense and being thoroughly put in his place by a very annoyed Kolivan.

"Mind your own charges, Human. The kit is my responsibility, and I will decide what is necessary." He'd practically growled back, lowering his voice and adding "do not bring my authority into question on this base unless you are willing to follow through with the implications." Allura blanched, pulling Shiro back and explaining to him how badly he had over stepped.

Keith would need to smooth this over later; explain to his leader the Black Paladin's intentions, that he was merely trying to help. This is why the Blades had such a hard time working with the rebels. Cultural differences led to them being seen as tyrannical, cold, cruel, blood thirsty, or aggressive when in reality they were just _different_. In Shiro's mind he was protecting Keith, standing up to what he saw as unfair punishment. In Kolivan's mind it was insubordination on behalf of another leader, a challenge of his power on his own base committed directly in front of his operatives.

Allura narrowed her eyes at Kolivan but otherwise didn't say anything regarding the interaction. Keith ignored her and moved to stand with the other Blades, beside his mother. The remaining Paladins filed in, taking their places next to the Princess.

"Why does she stare?" His mother asked, leaning in to whisper the question in his ear.

"Allura's distrustful of Galra. We've had our issues and we're working past it. Slowly." Krolia nodded at his explanation.

"You're reports." Kolivan gave the order and each of the teams relayed the basics of their respective missions. Apparently Lance had mistaken a yupper for Slav, even though they had all been shown his picture during the briefing, and Shiro had advocated for just leaving the Engineer in his cell. Keith gave his own report, followed by Krolia giving hers. Hunk and Matt didn't contribute, but Allura took the opportunity to complain about Pozzi being used as a communication tool and the unnecessary mental stress that fearing she'd be left behind could have placed on her. Every single one of the Galra in the room rolled their eyes. "This is war. I see nothing wrong with the actions of our Operatives." Kolivan dismissed her concerns with a cold, but not entirely cruel, tone.

For someone who had been so unyielding in their training when they had first become Paladins, it was baffling to see how quickly she jumped to defend the rebel. The princess had really put them 'through the wringer' as Lance had phrased it, and now she was going soft? He realized that she had more-or-less handed over the position of drill sergeant to Shiro while instead taking on the role of diplomat herself. _Huh_, that actually explained a lot. No wonder she seemed nicer now. No wonder he liked the old Allura better.

With their reports given the Paladins and Blades were dismissed to their quarters, except Keith who had a punishment to complete. He stayed with the group as they made their way to the elevators, the Paladins and Princess selecting a different floor than him. The guest quarters were nearer the lower levels and could be sealed off if needed, while Keith's room was in one of the primary residence blocks of the base. He exited the elevator and turned for his room to change into his training garb before heading for the training decks as instructed.

* * *

His punishment had been grueling. About mid way through, he'd run out of opponents and had instead been paired with a training droid. It was nowhere near as advanced as the Castle's gladiator and he defeated it time and time again. Eventually the Paladins were escorted from their rooms to watch and Lance's laughter each time Keith took a particularly hard hit only served to piss him off. It also pissed off Krolia who was overseeing the punishment. She decided to snatch the Blue Paladin from the sidelines and throw him onto the mats to face off against Keith. Normally he would relish in the opportunity to kick that cocky ass, but right now he was struggling to catch his breath after 4 vargas of nonstop, high intensity combat.

Lance, who was well rested, took one look at him and refused; saying it wasn't a fair fight. Keith watched his mother's angry glare soften as she nodded to the human boy, respecting his integrity. "While I would normally agree with your rationale, this is not a training session but a punishment. Take up arms and stand your ground Paladin." Keith groaned as a reluctant Lance gripped the training staff and squared off against him.

Keith wiped the rivers of sweat from his forehead, taking note of where the other placed his grip and lunging forward at the first sign of movement. He swiped his leg out, knocking the Cuban off balance, and spun around to kick him in the chest, sending the Human flying into the walls behind him. Victory – in under 5 tics.

"Ughhhhh" Lance groaned as he rose to his feet, grabbing the staff he had dropped. "Why aren't these walls padded?"

"What purpose would that serve?" Krolia responded with genuine confusion. "Padding trains you to be less capable of taking a hit and is counter productive. Stand your ground Paladin." She commanded, once again pushing him forward so that he stumbled back onto the mats.

Hunk asked a Blade sitting beside him why the floor was padded and realized that not a soul understood them. Keith snickered and the side of Lance's staff connected with his gut, taking advantage of his distraction. Krolia clapped Lance on the back, congratulating him on the victory while scowling at Keith for the failure. He groaned in pain and exhaustion.

"There's no translators on base but my mom speaks English." He told the Yellow Paladin. "The floor mats are to limit how much space each sparring team is allowed, and they make it more difficult to jump and run." He explained their setup as he got back to his feet, legs shaking from over use.

Taking his position across from Lance, he flexed his claws and tightened his grip on the staff. They carried on for an entire varga – Lance being told to stand his ground multiple times as he tried to cut out early. Krolia wasn't having any of it, she forced them onto the mats over and over until Keith literally couldn't stand any longer and was fighting Lance from the ground, rolling around on the mats to dodge the other's strikes. He managed to beat him once from that position, swiping out his legs like the first time, but he never got that opportunity again. Lance was a surprisingly fast learner and as soon as a weakness was exploited, he did a damn good job of correcting it.

Another particularly hard jab to his stomach had Keith coughing and he spit up a little blood onto the mat as he curled into the fetal position, another victory for his opponent. Krolia finally called the match and his punishment was complete. Shiro, Hunk, and Matt rushed to his side to help Lance pick him up amidst his protests.

"Keith, you need to go to the medbay." Shiro insisted. "Coughing up blood is not a good sign."

"I'm fine! I just need a hydration pouch and a few dobashes to rest, then I'll get _myself_ to the medbay." He choked out. All of the Blades were staring at them and he was losing face. "Put me the fuck down!" He hissed, using the last of his energy to squirm free. "Seriously, this isn't the first time I've gotten in shit and probably wont be the last." Paladin dad eventually conceded but refused to leave his side, insisting that he would accompany his 'little brother' to the medbay.

Keith sat on the sidelines as the next pairing took his place on the mats, moving through their stances and beginning their sparring session. Approximately 30 dobashes later, both Blades were exhausted and had taken seats beside him.

"How you fight for 5 vargas straight is unbelievable." The larger of the two said as he collapsed onto the small bench. The other finished sucking back his entire hydration pouch, tossing it into the waste bin beside them, and breathed out an exhausted assent. Keith just shrugged.

After another few dobashes he decided he was rested enough to tackle the trip to the medbay and let out an admittedly dramatic groan as he struggled to his feet. Shiro was there in an instant, grabbing his waist in support and causing Keith to blush. It meant nothing, he knew that, but the other Galra in the room definitely did not. There were some murmurs about Keith taking a mate of his other parentage and some comments about the Black Paladin being an admirable fighter and therefore worthy of a Blade. Keith rolled his eyes; thankful the Humans didn't speak Galran. Except – Shiro was blushing and his eyes were darting around the room anxiously. That was when Keith suddenly remembered the translator in the other's prosthetic and burst out in a fit of uncontrollable laughter. Thank the ancients Krolia had left a while ago or she would most certainly have some comments of her own.

* * *

As predicted, the entire gang had followed him to the medbay. Pidge and Matt had expressed their curiosity over Galran medical care. Lance felt bad for being the one to inflict the injuries, even though Keith insisted it wasn't his fault. Shiro and Hunk were just incredibly worried about his well-being. He was touched, really, but having a posse of aliens following him around only drew more attention to him, attention he didn't want.

The medbay was a familiar, and oddly comforting, sight. A team of medical staff scurried around busily between patients and Keith made his way over to his usual bed at the far end of the room. The scorch marks from the time he and Regris had set off flares were still there, as were the paintings and murals that had adorned the walls since the creation of the base. They were images of Daibazaal, depicting various landscapes and creatures native to the Galra's home planet, and clearly meant to be comforting but Keith never really liked them. They reminded him of what his people had lost, but that was also kind of the point. Kolivan had commissioned them to provide a less clinical feel in the recovery rooms, while also serving to remind their Operatives just how much the Galra, as a species, have lost with Zarkon in power. Remind them why they fight.

"Well well well, look who finally showed up." A familiar voice mocked and he turned around to the radiant smirk of Sergin. He couldn't stop the responding smile if he tried. Keith had thought maybe, just maybe, his adolescent brain had exaggerated the attractiveness of this man but NOPE. "And here I thought you'd forgotten all about me." The older man teased and Keith felt the blush creep up his neck. "I'd heard you were back on base, guess it was just a matter of time before you ended up down here, hey kit?"

He scowled at the head medic. "I'm not a kit anymore." He replied with finality and the other's brows rose in mock alarm. "I'm the Red Paladin and the right hand of Voltron and a quiznaking adult!" The responding laugh threw him for a loop and offered a strange juxtaposition to his more serious tone. The other Humans (aside from Shiro) must have been incredible confused.

"You're right! My apologies _Paladin!"_ Keith groaned and rolled his eyes, yet he couldn't help but smirk, he'd missed Sergin. "So, what brings you to my humble medbay? Let's do some scans shall we?" He pulled out a tablet and aimed it at Keith; the bright purple light skimmed over his body and relayed the damages. "_Stars_ ki-Keith, what happened?"

They went back and forth as he explained his punishment and Sergin shot an impressed eye Lance's way as well as a strange glance to Shiro. Their Black Paladin had taken a protective place by Keith's side, standing next to his bed and keeping one eye on the medic at all times. He knew it was Shiro's own issues, his fear and clear discomfort with being in a Galran medical facility. It was nice to have someone so willing to protect him but at the same time it was incredibly annoying because he was literally safer with Sergin than anywhere else. After all, he'd spent the majority of his kit-hood down here being bandaged up by the older Galra.

Sergin left the room to get some healing gel and Keith flopped down on the bed. Switching back to English he told Shiro to lighten up, Matt, Pidge, and Hunk to stop touching the equipment, and Lance to leave the poor medical intern alone.

A particularly fine-featured recruit had drawn his attention and was politely trying to fend off the strange alien boy who didn't understand a word she was saying. Her sideways glances to Keith were just _begging_ for an intervention and he was all too happy to oblige. He scowled at the Blue Paladin, scolding him for making the poor girl uncomfortable and Lance stormed out of the room, followed by Shiro in a bid to ensure there was someone with a translator around at all times. Pidge and Matt left shortly after, deciding to find Regris. The latter's knowledge of Common had proven sufficient for communication on the base, allowing him to speak to the Blades in return unlike Shiro's arm. Keith let out a heavy breath as he lay back against the bed once again, and Hunk took the opportunity to settle down on a bed next to him, falling asleep almost instantly.

* * *

Sergin had insisted that he stay at least a varga for observation while the gel worked its wonders. He'd had to eat a spoonful of the stuff to help with the internal injuries and it had been a struggle to get down. Two deca-phoebs on Earth, followed by one more on the Castle of Lions had spoiled him. The Altean healing pods were literally the greatest thing ever invented and Earth's medicine, while not nearly as effective as the Blade's, was damn tasty. The simulated cherry flavour was sweet and delicious; he'd actually managed to get himself incredibly high by drinking three quarters of a bottle of Nyquil after catching a slight cold. Keith had been so out of it that little stars had twinkled in the corners of his vision and his lips felt numb. That night his incredibly sharp teeth had bitten straight through his bottom lip and he'd woken up to a blood soaked pillow. His dad joked that it was painfully obvious Keith was an alien if he liked the taste of cough medicine that much.

"I thought I'd find you here." Krolia strolled into the medbay followed closely by Regris and Marra, the latter of which immediately ignored the location of their reunion and tackled him. Keith groaned in pain as his sore muscles objected to the unexpected pressure.

"OH STARS! Keith, I'm so sorry!" She drew back immediately, hands flying to her mouth in concern. In an effort to placate her, he insisted he was fine, but he wasn't. _Stars_, his muscles hurt. He wouldn't be zoning out in one of Kolivan's debriefings for a very long time.

"Keith, I heard some rather alarming things from Antok regarding the Princess." Krolia cut right to the chase, sitting down on the edge of his bed, and making very intense eye contact. _Quiznak!_ "Antok received the mission reports from Ulaz while Kolivan was on a mission and- "

"Kolivan went on a mission?" She glared at him for the interruption. "Sorry."

"As I was saying, Kolivan was on a mission so Antok took over command in his absence. Ulaz had some _very_ interesting things to say about your dynamic with the Princess. Specifically, concerns over the way you were being treated." Her expression was fierce. Krolia stared him down and he knew if he didn't word his response correctly, Coran would find himself as the sole Altean alive. Prince Lotor didn't count.

He looked up at her, then between his two kit-hood friends; they'd come for answers. A quick cursory glance toward Hunk confirmed the Yellow Paladin was out cold and Keith let out a heavy sigh. "She felt betrayed and I probably could have handled the situation better. It didn't help that the Emperor's witch corrupted a balmeran crystal and its dark energy only exasperated the problem. We've talked it out and I've mostly forgiven her."

"Mostly?" Reg cut in.

"Well, yea. She was pretty awful." He conceded and the fury in Krolia's eyes was alarming. Keith was about to say something until Sergin came back, releasing him with a medical 'all clear' and a warning to take it easy for a few quintants. _Unlikely_, he thought to himself but smiled and thanked the kind-hearted medic before shaking Hunk awake and heading out.

* * *

That night cycle had been relatively uneventful. Keith had made good on the promise he'd made to Lance back on their Thaldycon base, and the Blue Paladin excitedly followed him around as he went through the motions of a typical evening from before he'd been sent to Earth. Their first stop was the main cafeteria since Keith hadn't actually eaten anything since breakfast on the Castle ship. Lance had pulled faces at his plate of mostly raw meat, but Keith did his best not to intentionally gross him out this time, pointing out a few of his favourite dishes he knew the Human boy could eat.

Next they made their way back to the training decks and Lance grumbled about Keith being far too predictable. In reality, he just needed to grab a few of his belongings that he'd left there early that quintant. That particular stop had taken quite a while as many Blades who knew him had stopped them to catch up, and others were very interested in meeting the Voltron Paladins. Lance loved it; the attention he was receiving had him beaming with pride as they recounted some of their more exciting adventures. The story of Lance protecting Coran from an explosion, then waking up from unconsciousness to shoot Sendak and save Keith, had everyone in the vicinity salivating as they listed. Lance took full advantage of their attention, exaggerating each detail beyond recognition. Keith rolled his eyes but let the boy have his moment.

After the training deck, they made their way to one of the meditation rooms. This wasn't normally a part of his schedule, but with Lance shadowing him he didn't want to go to the reflection pools – they were too sacred. He opened the door and motioned for the other to take a seat, thanking the Ancients that the room was empty. They'd sat in silence for a while. Keith started a fire beneath the center pot, adding a handful of tealeaves to the mix when the water reached the perfect temperature. He gently placed an incense stick into the fire and poured them each a cup. Unlike the Castle of Lions, this room was built properly and the pot never boiled, meaning the tea was at the perfect drinking temperature as soon as it was poured.

He took a sip and felt the remaining tension in his muscles melt away with a sigh. "Woah, this is insanely relaxing, dude." Lance spoke quietly, maintaining the peaceful air that hung around them. Keith nodded and took another sip, thinking back on the battle they'd endured not too long ago, the lives he'd been forced to take. Innocent lives, soldiers assigned to a post, just following orders and doing their jobs. He felt terrible, a pit forming in his gut, taking lives never got any easier. Though he'd relished in slitting the throat of Haxus, it had been different, he'd deserved it; the blood on the Officer's hands alone justified Keith's actions

"Whatcha thinkin' bout?" Lance slurred, his relaxed state making wakefulness difficult to hold onto.

Keith shrugged. "The mission. The toll of war. Take your pick." Lance hummed his understanding.

"How much longer do you think we'll be out here? Like, that's what tomorrow's meeting is about right? To discuss taking out big bad Zarkon and getting home?"

"It's not going to be that easy. There's a lot we have to do before you get to go back to Earth. Voltron is kind of a big deal and our job won't be over even if we manage to take out the Emperor. There's still aid that will need to be delivered to half the universe, rebel factions will probably pop up, not to mention the struggle for power that's bound to take place in the Empire once both Zarkon and Lotor are dead. I'm sure Kolivan has it all planned out but I guarantee you Voltron factors heavily in those plans."

"Well, what if we just want to go home? I don't want to be a space soldier forever. I get that's like your whole 'thing' and all, but not me – I wanna see my family again, eat some decent food, go to the beach, just be a normal kid again you know?"

"No, Lance, I don't know. I was raised in this war. I never got to do that – not that I care, I don't, I like the life I had. I honestly think I would have gone stir-crazy if I'd been raised on Earth. But I know my place and my role in all this." He threw his arms wide to show his point. "This war is bigger than us, it spans entire galaxies, whole worlds that have been taken over and will need to be freed. We, the Blades that is, have our work cut out for us and we're facing an uphill battle. Most of the people we need to free are going to hate us purely because we're Galra, just like Allura hated me, and having Voltron backing us up could make all the difference." Lance nodded, looking dejectedly into his cup of rapidly cooling tea, and Keith felt the boy's despair as if it were his own. The look of gut wrenching pain hit him like a brick wall and he realized just how hard it must be for him, for _all_ of them, to be so far away from home for so long. He'd been trained for it, knew it was inevitable, and he'd learned to handle it before ever leaving for his mission to Earth. But the other Paladins had no warning, one dobash they were sneaking out after hours, and the next they were flying through space in the Blue Lion.

"Once the Emperor is dealt with, we'll find a way to bring you guys home, even if it's just for a visit." He smiled at Lance, receiving a genuinely grateful smile in return.

* * *

He'd brought Lance back to his guest quarters, knowing full well the other had no hope in finding his own way, before heading back to his room to crash. And crash he did, Keith hit the pillow and didn't stir again until the base's day cycle began. He took a hot shower, got dressed in his Paladin armour, and headed back to Lance and Hunk's room to collect his shadow. They were all waiting for him in the hall; ready to head for breakfast but not having remembered where the nearest cafeteria was in the maze of identical hallways and signs they couldn't read.

After eating, they made their way to the main briefing room yet again, this time to discuss what would hopefully be the end of the war and Keith was full of nervous energy, excitedly anticipating the discussions. Kolivan and several other Blades were already there, speaking amongst themselves as they waited. He walked in and one of them broke away from the pack, walking over to him – no, past him to … Allura? _Oh shit!_ His brain was in panic mode as whom he now recognized as his mother made her way directly to the Princess with intent. Her precise and deliberate movements showed her agitation in the tight way she held herself. He couldn't hear her; she spoke too quietly directly in the young Altean's face, leaning in to whisper at her ear and Keith felt – nothing. Which was strange, he thought he'd feel more anxious but aside from the immediate alarm and surprise, he didn't actually care. Allura could take care of herself and Krolia was smart, she'd never do anything to jeopardize the success of their missions or any alliance between the Blades and Voltron.

"Keith -" Shiro whisper-yelled at him. "- what's that Blade doing to Allura?" Keith shrugged and smirked to himself, _that Blade_ was putting her in her place.

He moved to stand closer to Kolivan, and the hulking form he recognized as Antok, when the meeting was called to order. There were several rebel leaders on the screens around them, not invited to come to base but still included in their plans. Te-Osh was one of them, as was the one he knew to be Olia. Coran was also on the screen, Zavin having setup a link for him while he was stuck on the Castle ship.

"Welcome." Kolivan's calm, but authoritative voice commanded the attention of the room. "We are gathered here this quintant to discuss the destruction of the Empire, the end of this war, and plans for the future. A tall order." There were murmurings of assent throughout the crowd and some cheering coming from the screens. "Presently we are in the company of the very best the Universe has to offer. Captains Olia, Te-osh, Frythyl, Bakwadiariaslioveckae, Juadi, and Kapkayo." He nodded to each rebel leader as he said their name and Keith blanched at a few. He then introduced the Blades as a single unit and acknowledged both Matt and Slav's presence, before turning to the Princess. "We are also graced with the presence of Princess Allura of Altea and the Voltron Paladins." There was a steady round of applause from the rebel leaders and Kolivan took the opportunity to mention Coran as well.

Keith looked around and noticed that Allura appeared uncomfortable, though she hid it well. Siro had straightened his back and squared his shoulders, taking on the responsibility as their leader. Keith smiled, if he wasn't going to be fighting the Emperor as a Blade, he was proud to do it as Shiro's right hand.

The meeting took vargas, they were all exhausted by its end, but a plan had been formed; one that he had a really good feeling about. Voltron was going after the Emperor and the rebel Captains were sending fleets to assist. The Blades were going after Prince Lotor and Keith honestly didn't know who had the harder assignment. The Prince was ruthless, pragmatic, and perpetually one step ahead of his enemies at all times. He would not go down easily.

There were a few exceptions of course. Krolia was to join the Paladins, as was Regris, so that they could infiltrate Central Command and shut down the main weapon systems. Until their plan was ready, everyone had been split into groups with various assignments. Slav was to be escorted to Olkarion by Coran to create a mindbogglingly massive teladuv. Matt and Pidge were being joined by Marra to invade several prisoner bases to retrieve a few valuable rebels. Hunk and Allura were returning to the Balmera in search of crystals large enough for their needs. They would be accompanied by a few Blades Keith had never met before and Allura had been reluctant at first but some harsh glares from Krolia shut her up. It made Keith genuinely curious as to what their little exchange had been.

Shiro and Lance were to accompany him into a quiznaking weblum for some quiznaking scaultrite and Keith was legit pissed about that. He'd scowled at Kolivan for the assignment, and scowled even harder when he found out they'd be going in Black. He was the only one with any experience entering a weblum, which meant he would _have_ to be one of the ones to collect the scaultrite, which meant that he couldn't act as the distraction, which meant they couldn't take Red. He may have pouted for the rest of the meeting.

* * *

Bright and early the next quintant, the path was clear again and all outbound parties left the base. Several pods docked in the Castle's main hangar to drop off their passengers. Currently Keith was sitting on Red's paw, leaning back against her leg, and swinging his foot over the side of her massive metal claw. He'd been grumbling to her about his assignment for the past 20 dobashes and all he'd gotten in return was the vague sense that she was laughing at him.

"Keith? Buddy, you in here?" Hunk's voice echoed through the hangar.

"Mullet? I don't think he's here man." Lance replied and he tried his best not to move, hoping his Paladin armour would allow him to blend into the lion. "No wait, I think I see him." _Quiznak_. With a groan he leapt deftly from Red's paw, flipping in mid air to land gracefully on his feet. "You're like a freakin cat, you know that?" The Cuban boy snarked and he grinned in return.

"What do you guys want? Usually when someone makes a point of being hard to find it's cause they want to be left alone." He shot back.

"Ya, well, listen – while you're actual alien butt is sitting around, the rest of us are trying to communicate with the other aliens and getting nowhere." Lance crossed his arms over his chest in his very best impersonation of Keith and the latter rolled his eyes but waved his hand dismissively.

"Whatever. What did you want?"

It was Hunk who recovered first. "What does 'kwelk' mean?" Keith's eyes shot up his head and he stared at the Yellow Paladin in shock.

"I'm sorry – what?"

"What does 'kwe-"

"No, I heard you!" He put his and up to silence the other, eyes darting around to make sure no one had over heard him. "Don't repeat it. Where did you learn that word?"

"We, uh – we heard your mom, Krolia, say it to Allura." Hunk replied, rather sheepishly, and Keith stared blankly back at him. "What does it mean?"

He blinked a few times in shock before gathering himself enough to respond. "Krolia called Allura a … she said _that_ to Allura?" Both boys nodded and Lance was looking at him with a wary expression. He let out a sigh. "It's kind of hard to translate. The actual word is '_kwelik'_ but when used as a curse it's pronounced '_kwelk'_."

"So she was swearing at her?" Lance asked and Keith nodded. "Kay, but what does it mean?"

"Uh, '_kwelik'_ is a bodily orifice, like a mouth or anus or anything else along those lines, and '_kwelk'_ means 'asshole'. If you pronounce the word correctly it's a medical term, if you intentionally mispronounce it then it's a swear."

"So Krolia was calling Allura an asshole?" Hunk clarified and Keith shrugged his shoulders.

"More or less. Look, don't repeat it. I know you guys have picked up saying 'quiznak' but that's a Common swear, this is a Galran swear. You really shouldn't be cursing in a language you don't speak or understand. It's also not as generic as 'asshole' is in English."

{ "Keith and Lance report to the Black Lion's hangar for departure. Keith and Lance to Black for departure. Hunk report to the Yellow Lion's hangar for departure. Hunk to Yellow for departure." }

Shiro's voice sounded over the coms sounded a whole lot like the Garrison announcements. They split up, Hunk going one way while Keith and Lance went the other. He groaned to Lance about how much their assignment sucked, telling him all about the time he had to go into a weblum with the Blades for training. By the time they made it to Black, the Cuban boy was whole hearted against the assignment. Keith smirked; if he had to suffer then he was bringing someone down with him.

* * *

The weblum sucked, as predicted. Shiro stayed in his lion to act as the distraction and force the beast to shoot its face laser, which meant it was Lance and Keith who had to go inside the giant worm. It was Lance and Keith who had fight off the acid creatures, it was Lance and Keith who got into a fight about which way to go, and it was Keith who had been shoved into the stomach lining.

Almost immediately, the walls started sealing in around him and Lance had to blast the tissue in order to squeeze his way out. The Blue Paladin ended up tripping and falling into a pit of acid later, or maybe Keith pushed him – no way to know for sure and the latter would never admit to it.

They'd gotten the damned scaultrite, and captured one of the Prince's Generals in the process. She tried to escape, but Keith had disarmed her and Lance held her at gunpoint while the Red Paladin used the energy cuffs in their armour to bind her arms. They flew the bags of crystallized worm gunk and the prisoner back to Black, storing both in the cargo hold.

Shiro called ahead, letting the Castle ship know that they were returning with a prisoner, and Krolia met them in the Lion's hangar. She helped the three Paladins escort Lotor's General down to the holding cells, locking her inside. Coran typed a series of buttons on the control pad so quickly that Keith wasn't able to catch a thing he had commanded. Because of this, he was unprepared for the blindingly bright flash of light, followed by an earsplitting high-pitched beeping, and finally an electric zap. The last one had only been in the cell and part of him felt bad for the General, the other part of him relished in how much that would have hurt.

"Which of the Prince's Generals are you? Why were you inside the weblum? What is Prince Lotor planning?" Krolia's calm, calculated voice floated into the cell but the General refused to acknowledge her. With a grunt, the seasoned Blade dismissed them, sealing the entire floor behind them.

"What's she going to do?" Lance asked and Keith gave him a leveled stare causing the Human boy to gasp in alarm.

"The good thing is that's one less General our operatives will need to face. The bad news is the Prince is up to something."


	17. Five Become One

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

Ok this one took longer than expected to edit and I missed my normal post day but I hope it's worth it! I have a quick edit to note: In the last chapter I made a plot relevant typo so I fixed it. I had put that Keith killed Sendak when really it was Haxus he had killed back in chapter 3.

That being said - this is the second last chapter of For The Stars but there WILL be a 6th and final part. The last part will be much shorter than this one, but I hope it's just as good!

TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of violence and death.

\- KarsKars

* * *

**FIVE BECOME ONE**

"Soooooooooo? Are we just gunna sit here and wait or did you wanna do something? We could play Killbot Phantasm." Lance was lying on the floor in Red's hangar, his feet propped up against one of the Lion's massive paws. Keith, who was sitting cross-legged beside him, merely rolled his eyes but didn't otherwise acknowledge the boy's question.

Before leaving for the weblum, Keith managed to find some alone time to speak with Pidge and Matt. Captain Olia had given them a list of names, descriptions, and identifying information of the rebels they were to retrieve but Keith knew both Holts well enough to know they would scan each location's records in search of a very particular prisoner. He hoped for their sake they were successful, though there was a very real possibility that they might not find the person they were looking for.

Pidge had gotten angry, shutting him out for even suggesting such a thing. Matt had been much more pragmatic, but ultimately he too was Human and refused to believe they wouldn't find Sam. Keith felt for them, he really did. He remembered a time when he'd been optimistic about retrieving lost Blades, but that was a long time ago and he'd since learned not to build false hope. Still, Sam had been a close friend of his dad and someone who had always been nice to Keith, so he'd offered a plea to the stars and his ancestors asking them to watch over the man.

"Dude, all this waiting sucks! I'm bored." Lance whined and Keith was about to respond with something sassy and witty and clever but the opening of the hangar doors cut him off.

Looking up from the Paladin he'd been scowling at, Keith's eyes locked with those of his mother. She had a hungry energy radiating off her and a wild look flashed across her eyes. Keith quirked a brow and rose to his feet with a slight groan; he'd been sitting still for far too long.

"Keith, Blue Paladin, follow me." Krolia ordered, not slowing for a moment. She powered past him to the small round elevator that linked the Red Lion's hangar with the main bridge, beckoning the two boys to join her. With his interest thoroughly peeked; Keith eagerly rushed to her side while Lance sauntering over to the other. It was a small space for three people and the tight quarters became even less comfortable when the Blue Paladin began grumbling about '_having a name dammit'_. Keith snorted and shot the other a look; Krolia ignored him as though she were alone in the tiny lift.

When the doors slid open, she hurried out; her movements never seeming rushed, only purposeful. Allura turned in alarm to greet the rapidly approaching Blade and Krolia strode past her, moving to stand beside Coran and demanding an immediate link to Kolivan. He complied.

_"__Krolia."_ Kolivan's stern face filled the centermost screen of the bridge. The two Paladins moved quietly closer, Lance stopping beside the Princess while Keith carried on to his mother's side.

"Leader." She addressed curtly. "I have extracted important information from our captive. Information that will turn the tides of this war."

_"__I am listening."_

"General Acxa was captured inside a weblum by the Red and Blue Paladins and is currently in the Castle's healing pods as she proved to be far less cooperative than necessary … initially."

_"__How confident do you feel in the validity of the information acquired?" _

"I would stake my life and reputation on it." Kolivan hummed thoughtfully at that, nodding once for her to proceed. "While stationed under Commander Ranveig, I was part of a team to intercept a vile of highly concentrated quintessence. It was unlike anything the Empire had ever sent our way. We ran countless tests with the substance and Commander Ranveig ordered the druid on base to begin a series of experiments to create his super weapon."

_"__Yes, you have mentioned this in previous reports."_ Krolia nodded to his interruption.

"I have. The beast that was created proved unstoppable. We kept it sealed away until Keith and I released it on Commander Trugg and her forces. It will have decimated them before we ever left the atmosphere." She looked over her shoulder to Allura, then back to Coran. "What I have to say next concerns the Altean's and I ask that you do not interrupt – no matter how tempted you may be." She leveled her gaze with the Princess who frowned in return, pulling her brows in displeasure, but agreed to remain silent. "Right, during my interrogation of the prisoner, General Acxa delivered several wild and bizarre claims. I believed her to be mocking me until the mention of a unique form of quintessence, one more powerful and pure than anything the universe had ever seen. If it had not been for my work under Commander Ranveig, I would have discounted this as just another lie."

Krolia squared her shoulders, a sideways glance flickering over to Allura before immediately returning to the screens in front of her. "General Acxa has revealed the location of Prince Lotor, his plans, and where the vile came from. I believe we should send a small group of Blade's to investigate these claims. Normally, I would suggest sending the Princess in this unique case; however she is needed with the rest of Voltron for their attack on Central Command."

_"__Areed, but why suggest Princess Allura? What is it that you found?"_

"There is a planet located inside the quantum abyss that holds a colony created by Prince Lotor himself. The Prince had been ordered by Emperor Zarkon to hunt down and eliminate any survivors who had been off planet at the time of Altea's destruction. Instead, he brought them to the remote and well-hidden colony where they have lived in secret for 10,000 deca-phoebs. He used this time to search for any born with 'the mark of the chosen' and harnessed the gifted, siphoning their quintessence and leaving behind empty husks to rot. The vile we intercepted - I believe it to be one of these."

Allura gave a loud and dramatic gasp, Coran stared in silent shock, and Kolivan lost himself to his thoughts as he dissected this new information. Several very tense dobashes went by before he finally replied. _"We are ready for our missions, and the battle to take back the Empire will commence in two quintants. This changes nothing. I will spare one fleet of operatives and pods for your side quest, no more. You may select those you feel best suited for this mission; I trust your judgment. In the meantime, provide any thing regarding the Prince to Antok, he is in charge of the assassination and will need all the intel he can get. The Prince's defeat is paramount if we wish to set the Empire in a new direction." _

"Yes, Leader. Am I required to return to base?"

_"__No, you may deliver your report to Antok from the Castle of Lions. In the meantime, we are proceeding with the plans for the Kral Zera. Our selected operative has been informed of his role and has graciously accepted. After Voltron's defeat of the Emperor, he will be in your care to ensure his safe arrival on planet Feyiv for the ceremony."_

"Yes, Leader." The line was severed and Allura nearly tackled Krolia, questions flying from her at a rapid-fire rate. The seasoned Blade merely stared in return until she had finished, took a deep breath, and replied in a rather condescending tone. "Once you have gathered yourself Princess, you may begin again."

Keith snorted and received a sharp glare from Allura before her attention was refocused on his mother. He rolled his eyes but was genuinely curious about her discovery and therefore chose not to speak up.

"An entire planet filled with surviving Alteans? I _must_ be the one to go."

"No, you mustn't." Krolia responded rather curtly.

"My people need me." Allura pressed.

"The _Universe_ needs you." Krolia insisted. She pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation, letting out a heavy sigh. "Princess, I know how you must be feeling, but you need to understand the importance of defeating the Emperor and the role you play in our plans. Plans that you helped form. You're position with Voltron is vital to the mission and without you we cannot proceed. It is imperative that you remain with the Castle of Lions to defeat Emperor Zarkon. Our operatives, ones specifically chosen for this assignment, will secure the potential colony and will be waiting for you when the mission is completed. In the meantime, do not lose your focus; we must all be prepared for the monumental task before us. Can I trust you to keep a level head?"

"You Galra are so cold." Allura whispered under her breath and Krolia gave no reaction what so ever. Squaring her shoulders and straightening her back, Allura poised herself, drawing on her upbringing to look every bit the royal and diplomat she was. "I will not allow myself to be distracted. Zarkon must be dealt with once and for all. My only request is that I be included in choosing the Blades selected to visit the colony. I wish to send a message along with them for any Alteans that live there."

"That sounds reasonable. I'm certain your request can be accommodated."

"It is my hope that once we have defeated Zarkon, we can rebuild the once great coalition my father, King Alfor, began. Being able to include actual Alteans would be more than I thought possible. These people, _my people,_ have been mistreated and abused by Prince Lotor and I will not stand for it."

"Believe me, Princess, the Prince will suffer a fate worse than death." Keith heard Lance gulp beside him and watched horror cross the delicate face of Allura as Krolia took great pleasure in the knowledge of what Antok had planned. He felt himself smiling; the Prince had done terrible things, committed atrocities. He had subjugated entire species, using them for power, learning their ways so that he could exploit them; all under the guise of a peacekeeper. He was just as evil as his corrupted father; more so if you took into account his lies and the way he presented himself. A savior, a guardian angel – more like the devil in disguise. He deserved everything that was coming to him.

"Perhaps, we should continue with the preparations?" Coran cut in. The man had been uncharacteristically quiet and Keith studied him, taking in his nervous state. He was clearly just as eager as Allura to find this colony and save their fellow Alteans from the clutches of Prince Lotor, but he also seemed more wary of the information.

Allura and Krolia delegated what needed to be done, Coran taking on the brunt of the responsibility. Keith watched closely, the older man never seemed to complain though he rarely received thanks for the work he did. The Red Paladin made a mental note to thank him for all that he had contributed when this battle was over. Voltron wouldn't be Voltron without Coran.

"Uh Keith? Buddy?" Lance interrupted his thought process with an exaggerated hand wave directly in front of his face. "You okay man? You've got this lovey-dovey look and you're making googly eyes at Coran. It's weird dude."

He stared blankly at the Blue Paladin, processing his description of what must be a very fond expression on his face and burst out laughing. He explained his thought process, the unwavering dedication of the Altean man, and his desire to express gratitude. Lance was all over it, whole-heartedly agreeing and dragging Keith from the bridge by his wrist as he chased after the mustachioed ginger to scream their thanks at him. Keith rolled his eyes but surrendered to his fate.

* * *

A knock on his door took Keith by surprise. Placing the soft cloth he'd been using to polish his blade down onto the bed beside him, he stowed the now shiny weapon at his back. With a groan, he rose from the bed and crossed the room to open the door revealing a distressed Allura. Without a word, Keith turned back to his bed, leaving the door open for her.

"I heard something interesting from 4 little friends of mine regarding you." She said as the door closed behind her.

"I knew I should have eaten those damn mice." Keith muttered under his breath, and the Princess gasped.

"You will do no such thing!" Collecting herself, she sat on the bed beside him silently and waited until Keith was uncomfortable enough to finally turn to address her. Allura smiled. "I wanted to thank you. I know we haven't always gotten along and I know things were difficult for a while, but I wanted to say that you have a good soul. Coran is positively beaming in the engine room. I sometimes forget how lucky I am to have him here. Thank you, Keith."

"For what? Thanking Coran? Uh – you're welcome I guess." He shrugged, uncomfortable with how close she was sitting, with the emotional intimacy of the conversation, and with the attention in general.

"And for asking Hunk to prepare meals for me while I was on your base."

Keith paled. "He told you about that?"

"I thanked him and he insisted the thanks was to be given to you."

"Is this what you came in here for? Cause you can go now." He stood up and moved away from the bed, the Princess' chuckling behind him.

"There was more. I also wanted to discuss taking on Zarkon's witch. Krolia and Antok have confirmed that this Haggar will also need to be defeated or she may try to take back control."

Keith nodded along, everything she was saying was right; the witch needed to go. But who was going to take that on? "She's powerful – more powerful that you can imagine and she'll have her minions surrounding her. To take her out, we'll have to get close, very close, close enough that the Lion's won't be able to protect us."

"Us?" She asked, quirking a brow.

"Do you think I'm stupid? I know you came here to say that you're going to take her on. I'm sure you think you have a good reason _'blah blah blah duty blah blah blah Altean Alchemy blah blah blah need to feel useful'_ or whatever." He crossed his arms and she snickered at his high-pitched rendition of her voice.

"I do Not sound like that." Any force in her words was canceled out by the underlying chuckle.

"You kinda do." He replied. "Seriously, you can't take her on alone, she'll have her Druids backing her up and you'll be outnumbered and out matched."

"And what do you suggest?"

* * *

"Alright guys, listen up." Shiro commanded control of the room. Everyone was gathered on the Castle's bridge; all 5 Paladins, the two Alteans, Krolia, Regris, Marra, and everybody's favourite rebel; Matt. Pozzi had joined Coran on his expedition to Olkarion with Slav and had chosen to stay behind. Keith couldn't be happier, though both were still present for the debriefing via com link.

Their Black Paladin was standing in the center of the bridge, a holographic model of the massive teludav hovering over his head. His hands were on his hips and he stood tall, speaking clearly, and earning the respect of everyone present. "I'll use the Black Lion to lure Zarkon's fleet to our current location and make sure he's within the teludav's area of effect. Keeping the teludav hidden behind the space-fold until the last possible second is _essential_. We can count on you right, Slav?" He turned to face the screen and the strange but brilliant engineer nodded his assent.

_"__Absolutely, I'll be fine. I'm not sure about the gravity generator though."_

"What? What was that last thing?" Hunk cut in nervously.

_"__Hiding a ship is one thing, but I've never had to build a gravity generator for something this large before. I know it'll work, but I'm not really sure for how long."_

"Well, that's a risk we're going to have to take." Shiro spoke with finality; they had to have faith in their plan if there was any hope of succeeding. "Once Zarkon's ship is in position, Krolia and Regris will coordinate with Thace. Together they'll take down Zarkon's security system and upload the virus which will infect Central's systems, preventing them from using hyper drive or any of their weapons. "

Pidge adjusted their glasses, a devilish gleam in their eyes. "And then, he'll be a sitting duflax." Literally only Keith laughed, the Humans not knowing what a duflax is, and the others not understanding the Earth specific idiom.

"Crickets." Lance whispered to Hunk, earning himself a death glare from the gremlin.

"What? A duflax is an Altean creature with a beak and webbed feet." They explained defiantly. "Space duck." The grouchy Green Paladin crossed their arms over their chest with a huff.

"Jokes dead, Pidge." Lance dismissed with a flippant arm wave.

"You're dead." They muttered under their breath in return. Keith snickered but jumped back in surprise as Coran leapt across the bridge, taking over the debriefing.

"We'll wormhole Zarkon 500 million bliks away!"

"Uh, what's a blik?" Hunk asked and Keith mumbled an unenthusiastic _'light year'_ in response. "Ohhh. So like, a light deca-phoeb?" The big guy compared and Keith stared blankly at him, pulling his brows together in confusion.

"Well, yeah, but who's going to say that. Just say blik." Keith rolled his eyes and re focused on the meeting, urging Coran to continue.

"He'll be in the Yggiz Galaxy before he knows what hit him!"

* * *

Keith sat in the Red Lion, waiting for the signal from Krolia that gave the go ahead for the wormhole to be activated. He watched in nervous silence, from inside Red's hangar, as Shiro followed the battle plans and cleared a path for the Blade pod holding his mother and Regris. He hadn't had a chance to speak with either of the two Holts privately after they'd returned from their prison crawl. He'd been busy with Allura, and they'd been making modifications to the Blade pods. They added a cloaking device, and Krolia was at the helm, meaning he shouldn't be this worried but he couldn't help it. They still hadn't received a check-in from Thace, and now both his mother and uncle would be on Central command, not to mention is best friend.

Keith gave his head a shake, he needed to focus, he needed to be ready the moment Central lost power but something was going wrong; he could feel it. His gut was screaming at him that this was taking longer than it should have. He heard Antok's voice over the coms confirming that the Blade of Marmora had reached Lotor's fleet and were preparing to board. Kolivan wished them luck in one breath then asked Allura for a report with the next. Business as usual. Keith had been on missions before, and with Voltron he'd seen more battle than ever. But never had a single mission risked so much if it failed.

If the Blade's failed he would lose Tok and Zavin and even Plak and Ulaz who had been brought in for the mission. Zavin and Plak were each in the top tier of fighters and pilots that the Blade had to offer and the assassination of Prince Lotor was an all hands on deck mission.

If Voltron failed he would lose his two oldest friends Reg and Marra, as well as his Uncle Thace, and his mother. Not to mention the Paladins! Keith didn't know what he would do if this mission failed and he lost any of them. There was no way he could ever return to Earth without Shiro, or Lance, or Hunk, or Pidge, or even Matt.

He gripped at the controls of his Lion and focused his energy on Krolia, _feeling_ her quintessence, trying desperately to gauge the progress of their mission. There was a vague sense of urgency before everything was overshadowed by darkness. A twisted, angry, hate fueled presence took over and became all he could sense. _Quiznak! _He cursed under his breath.

"Mom?" Keith opened up the com line and hailed Krolia. "You need to hurry up. The witch is tracking you and she's getting close!"

_"__Noted. Thank's for the heads up, sweetie."_ He heard Reg snicker in the background, mumbling _'sweetie'_ before being smacked. Keith smiled, but it didn't last long, the swirling in his gut was getting stronger.

Another few dobashes went by before Shiro started getting anxious, _"I can't hold them by myself much longer."_ He complained over the coms and Pidge responded immediately. He saw a streak of green fly across his screen, followed by yellow and finally blue as the other Paladins jumped into the fray. Keith didn't need to be told twice (or even once apparently since no one had actually asked for help), he flew Red out of her hangar taking down 3 pods before he'd even made it to Shiro's side.

They fought together as a team, coming to each other's aid when needed and taking out the biggest threats they could handle in a bid to offer an escape route for the Blade pod. Which they still hadn't heard from. Keith tried not to think about it, tried not to let his mind run over every possible scenario where _NO!_ – he wasn't going to fixate, he wasn't Slav.

Giving his head a shake, he moved Red to backup Hunk who had 5 pods on his tail, then Lance who found himself pinned between Central Command and an approaching cruiser. Every so often Black would zip by him, or a pod would erupt with vines, or Yellow would smash head first into something, or a sudden jet of ice from Blue would set off his proximity alarm. Keith pulled out his fire power on a pod and whipped Red around to hit another that had been trying to sneak up on him.

Finally, they heard from Krolia. _"We found Thace. The Empire switched out the codes and we're trying a work-around."_

_"__What are you doing? Will it still work?"_ Shiro asked cautiously.

This time it was Regris who replied. _"I'm using the main power to overload the system." _And Keith froze.

"You're turning the room into a bomb?" he heard his voice as if from afar, the words whispered into the com.

_"__Essentially - it's the only way."_ Regris answered and Keith nodded.

"Come back in one piece." Was all he said before the link disconnected. The other Paladin's didn't dare comment and he was thankful for their silence.

The battle surged on, wave after wave of pods and cruisers flowing from Central's hangars to take down the Paladins. Allura ordered them to focus on Central itself as the command ship was reaching the outer edge of the teludav's reach. They redoubled their efforts, forcing the massive base back into the center of their target area. Slav whimpered over the coms about the gravity generator's power levels, Krolia messaged to say they were running from the control room, Shiro ordered them to watch for the small bay doors opening so they could protect the pod, all the while blast after blast rang out around them. It was chaos.

_"__The gravity generator just lost power!" _Slav panicked over the coms. _"Now there's no reality where we all get out alive!"_ He panicked as they were exposed. The massive teludav glowed brightly with its distinctly Altean light and design, completely open to attack. The sudden appearance of the Castle Ship caught the attention of the Empire and Keith watched as ion cannon after ion cannon changed its direction, taking aim at their exposed ship. He called to Allura, urging her to activate the Castle's particle barrier and directing the other Paladins to take out the cannons. Lance had sassed him, asking when Red had become the head of Voltron but Shiro shut him up and ordered everyone to follow Keith's command. The Red Paladin focused his rail gun on the cruisers, painfully aware of his limited shots, and tried to line up as many targets as possible. He begged the Ancestors to forgive him and let it rip, watching as he carved a line of destruction through the Empire's fleet.

_"__We cannot wait any longer; I'm powering the teludav now."_Allura announced and Keith opened the line to his mother once again. He shouted into the coms for an update and received nothing in return, shouting again with more urgency only to be met with continued silence. His heart started to race, panic setting in, a mission had never gone this far off course. He only hoped the assassination of the Prince was going better.

The tics felt like vargas before a familiar voice echoed through his coms. _"The suits were damaged in the blast. We could not respond until inside the pod. Central's systems are down and Regris successfully uploaded the virus. We are launching in 3 tics." _Thace's voice ushered in a flood of relief and he heard Shiro give the command to 'cover them' as the Paladins moved into position. A rush of energy engulfed him as it hummed across his lion, Allura's power encircling them, and the teludav roared to life. The Blade pod shot out of Central Command, rocketing across the distance at a record speed and he couldn't tell if Krolia or Thace had taken the role of pilot. Keith watched them dock in the Castle's main hangar, sealing the hangar door as the wormhole enveloped them all.

_"__It's not over yet!" _Shiro announced. Keith looked around himself, taking in the dark form of Central Command, the scattering pods, and the destruction that floated aimlessly about. Catching the Emperor was supposed to be the easy part; now they had to kill him. He heard Shiro over the coms again, commanding the Paladins to prepare for phase two. _"Everyone, form Voltron!"_

* * *

They exited the wormhole to a fleet of rebel ships and a small collection of Blade pods. It was truly impressive how many had pledged themselves to assist Voltron. The first thing he heard was Shiro once again. Their Black Paladin instructing them to act fast as the massive base would be 'offline' for only 20 more dobashes.

_"__The Blade of Marmora's schematics show four targets we need to hit: the weapons systems, the engines, the bridge, and the shield generators. Now, let's put an end to Zarkon ONCE AND FOR ALL!"_ Shiro gave the order and received a round of cheers from the other Paladins, Keith included. They were so close, so close to everything his organization had worked so hard for thousands of deca-phoebs to achieve. The end was within grasp and all he had to do was take out this one obstacle. The Emperor was the last piece, the last target, and the be-all-end-all of their plans. If they failed here, it didn't matter whether the Prince died, they would never get an opportunity like this again and the Empire would wipe out the rebel forces. Voltron's allies would be decimated. The universe would be lost.

_Okay, dark._ He thought to himself, shaking his head again and trying his absolute damnedest to focus. _"Form sword!"_ he heard Shiro command and Keith obliged, happy for the distraction from his thoughts. They charged at the massive base, dragging their sword across the hull and causing a series of small, localized explosions. _"Hit the engine systems."_ Came over the coms from Black and their sword grew in size before they slammed it into one of the marked locations. With each pre assigned target hit, their on-screen maps adjusted, showing the remaining targets as directed by Kolivan.

The resulting explosion was massive, and sent a shockwave across the underside of Central that sent Voltron flying backwards. They used their new found distance to unleash a series of blasts across the protruding arms of the base, weakening them in the process. The rebel fighters moved in, targeting the weakened arms and distracting the pods that launched to defend their home. Shiro ordered Green's mouth laser and Voltron carved a path of destruction near their next target before calling for their sword once again and heading for the second set of engines.

_"__Good job, guys! Now, let's target the bridge."_ Shiro commanded once again as yet another catastrophic explosion went off in their wake. They almost made it, they had been so close, but a building of dark energy below had Keith's head spinning. He let out a pathetic whine he hadn't made since he was a _very_ small kit and his gut screamed at him, louder this time than ever before.

_"__What is that?"_ Lance asked over the coms and Keith forced himself to open his eyes, forced himself to sit up straight in the pilot's seat, and forced himself not to panic as he saw the darkness Haggar was building.

The blast hit them before they could even react and Keith nearly vomited. The komar drained their quintessence, lending it directly to the witch and her power grew. This was it; this would be the end of them if they didn't manage to break her hold. He focused his rapidly dwindling energy on her iron grip, willing the flow of quintessence to stop. He felt his strength slowly return as the komar's effects on him weakened, but he _knew_ that he was the only one. Keith pushed back as his strength returned, blocking her connection to the other's one at a time; first Shiro, then Lance, followed by Pidge, and finally Hunk. Her connection was severed and he fell back into his seat, exhausted.

_"__Paladins! Shiro! Can you hear me?"_ he heard Allura call over the coms.

_"__Keith? KEITH!"_ his mother's voice joined through the Blade line.

_"__Yes, Princess. We're alive."_ Shiro responded, weak and barely holding onto consciousness.

_"__Oh, thank the ancients! Is Voltron operational?"_ Coran sounded worried, and for good reason; none of their lions had any power. Keith could hear the other's answering so he turned his attention to Krolia, responding to her concern and assuring her that they were all fine … ish.

Just then, a large door opened on the underside of Central Command and a massive form emerged. It felt tainted; the energy it gave off was dark and twisted. Once again, it was Lance who noticed before the others and it was Lance who drew attention to the hulking mass. Keith heard Pidge gasp and Hunk whimper, but the most terrifying sound of all was the pained gasp that escaped Shiro followed by a whispered _"It's Zarkon."_ Keith stared at the corrupted Emperor as he approached. They were the sitting duflaxes now, their lions were dead, they barely had any energy left, and the sheer power emanating off the mech in front of them was dizzying. Keith felt his mouth go dry, genuinely afraid for his life.

It was Allura's voice that pulled him back from the brink, her words that echoed in his mind and gave him the strength he needed. _"Listen to me. You are true Paladins now. Connect with your lions, reach out to each other! FIGHT! This cannot end now!"_ He felt her words resonate. The Castle of Lions flew past them and let out a powerful blast directly at the Emperor's armour, but he was fast; his suit's wings flying into place to block the attack and reflect it across his own ship. The Castle's weapon ripped across the base, showing the power that Allura was capable of harnessing as it left destruction in its wake. But it was futile; the suit adjusted the trajectory of the beam and caused it to connect with itself, resulting in a truly horrifying scream escaping Allura as her own power was turned against her. Shiro called out the Princess' name in alarm and Keith watched as an explosion on the bridge severed their connection to the Castle of Lions.

He felt the pain from each of the others as it surged through the Paladin bonds, amplifying his own. It couldn't end like this; they couldn't lose to the Emperor, not now – not ever! Shiro's calm voice came over the coms, pulling their focus and uniting them once again. _"Everybody, listen, we have to fight. We have to channel all our energy, visualize five becoming one. We have to focus everything we have into moving Voltron. We are the last thing standing in the way of Zarkon's total universal domination. I'm not giving up that fight. Are you Hunk?"_

_"__No."_ Hunk's voice was resolute and Keith could feel the stability of earth ground them all as if they were planted firmly on the ground instead of drifting in space. Yellow roared to life.

_"__Pidge?"  
"NEVER!"_ They cried out in response and a rush of energy flowed through them, he could feel the electric pulse of Green as she roared and their minds buzzed with ideas.

_"__Lance?"  
"Let's go down swingin'."_ Lance was cocky but determined, and Blue fed off it. She roared loudly and her calm, cool waters washed over them, enveloping Keith in a sense of protection and trust.

_"__Keith?" _It was his turn and he was ready. This was a fight he'd been waiting for.  
_"I'm all in."_ He replied and Red's thunderous roar sent a blast of fiery energy soaring through their bonds. His drive, his will to fight, his Galran blood lust mixing with her fire to power the others and put the pulse back into Voltron.

_"__Then let's get Voltron back in this battle!" _Shiro commanded and they immediately responded. Keith calling their sword as they braced for the impending attack while the Emperor approached.

His armour was powerful, but so were they. Voltron fought with everything they had, pulling on the experience from each of the robeasts Haggar had sent, each of their past battles. Green supplied them with suggested tactics, Blue calmed their nerves, Red fueled their attacks, Yellow held their bonds, and Black led the charge. Together they could do this, together they could anything. He could feel it, the truth of that sentiment ringing clearly through Keith's mind. _Together_ was the key.

The rebels swarmed the komar, preventing the witch from attacking them with it again. Keith pulled his coms and tried to contact Krolia but received nothing. The Castle was still dark and unresponsive so he contacted one of the Blade pods, watching as it changed direction and turned back from the fight to head for their downed ship. Keith alerted the other Paladins of his actions and felt their relief, someone was going after the rest of their team, someone was going to make sure they were alright.

It didn't take long before Emperor Zarkon doubled down and shot out one powerful weapon after the next and Keith's stomach dropped – it was just like the last time he'd taken him on; he was using the black bayard. A particularly powerful blast ripped from the weapon in his hands and tore them all apart, setting the five lions to drift in different directions.

_"__You should have fled like your predecessors." _The Emperor's rumbly voice echoed through their coms, the bayard and his weakened connection with the Black lion granting him access. _"Now, the time of the Voltron Paladins is finished."_

A darkness crashed into him again and Keith felt it in his gut; something was very very wrong. "Shiro?" He called to silence. "SHIRO?" still nothing, the Black Lion drifted aimless and silent through space as the battle raged behind them. "Somethings wrong with Shiro. Guys, we can't let Emperor Zarkon get the Black Lion." He moved Red into position, a protective stance between the two leaders; one he respected and one he despised.

They fought a losing battle. They were sorely out matched and it was becoming painfully clear until – something magnificent happened. He felt the rush as soon as it happened, Shiro and Black merged consciousness, binding the Paladin and the Lion on a completely new level. The ephemeral wings of Black opened, letting Shiro phase right through the heart of their enemy.

_"__Whoa … what did you do?"_ Lance asked with reverence.

Shiro gasped a few times, struggling to regain his composure. _"I've got Zarkon's bayard."_ He sounded astonished, speaking with barely more than a whisper.

"You mean you've got _your_ bayard!" Keith urged and Shiro let out a chuckle.

_"__Ya, I guess you're right."_ He pulled himself together, back into leader mode and doled out his order to form Voltron, which the team responded to immediately. This time they had the all five bayards and the Emperor had no weapon aside from his suit.

The battle raged, and their enemy evaded everything they threw at him. From the corner of his eyes Keith watched the power return to Central Command, he watched the fleet of fighter pods launch and engage the rebels and Blades in battle once again. He watched as the Castle came back online, and he watched a massive explosion take out the komar. Things were looking up and with one last charge Voltron plunged its sword through the Emperor's suit. He felt those powerful claws grab onto their head, and the surge of tainted quintessence as it poured into Black. Then, out of nowhere, the Black bayard was activated and their sword suddenly burst with energy, tearing through the armour and obliterating the one inside.

A powerful shockwave was released, shaking Voltron to its very core and threatening to pull them apart yet again. Keith pushed back, he could feel a darkness latching onto them, latching onto Black, and he pushed with every fiber of his being. Grunting, he called for assistance. "Guys, I need your help! Focus on me! He's trying to tear us apart!" The responding surge fueled him, it gave him the burst he needed to meld with his lion, becoming one with Red and calling out to Black.

He stood in a vast sea of stars spreading in all directions into infinity. Beneath him was a glowing blue lioness, wrapped protectively around Lance, as waves lapped at their feet. To the left of Lance was a mass of glowing yellow that lay flat against solid rock, the only sign of Hunk being a single arm poking out of the lion's main. He looked back up and to his left taking note of Pidge sitting between the legs of a glowing green lioness, vines weaving around them as they talked. Keith smiled and felt it falter the moment he looked up. Black was lying on his side, purple main splayed around him as Shiro fought to push a larger being away. _Zarkon!_

Red's fire ignited around him and Keith willed it to Shiro's aid. The flames danced and jumped between them, wrapping themselves around the Black Paladin protectively and lending him the power he needed to take control of the fight. The Emperor was forced back, stumbling closer to Pidge and Green roared, vines shooting up to tangle around his legs. He slashed at them but Blue sent a tidal wave to knock him off balance and he crashed hard onto the unforgiving rock Yellow provided. Finally Black roared back to life and pounced on his former Paladin, the force of which sent Keith flying back to reality.

_"__WHOA! You guys feel that? My lion just went nuts!" _Lance proclaimed over their coms to the assent of both Pidge and Hunk. Keith chuckled and he heard a heavy sigh come from Shiro.

_"__Alright guys, we need to end this." _He took another deep breath, still trying to collect himself. _"Let's disband into our lions. Lance? Hunk? Follow my lead and we'll get rid of these fighters. Pidge? See if you can shut down Central Command again. And Keith? You already have your orders from Allura. Let's go team!"_

They disbanded after that, each heading off to their assigned task. Keith flew Red straight for the now destroyed komar, landing on the remains of the outcropping. Exiting the lion he waited for the personal transporter to arrive and when it did, both he and Allura charged after the witch. Finding her wasn't the hard part; Allura could sense her energy, confirming once and for all that Haggar was Altean. It was beating her that was going to be hard.

They caught up to her outside the throne room. A hangar door was open and she was assisting some pods with their return of the Emperor's mech suit. Keith directed Lance to intercept them over the coms and watched with glee as the Blue Lion made a 180 degree turn, rushing towards them at full speed. Seeing Blue's mouth open and the laser charge for attack, he jumped in front of the Princess and pulled up his energy shield as a precaution. The blast connected with the floating armour, obliterating the remnants, and the witch shrieked in rage. She vanished in an instant, reappearing directly in front of Keith and zapping his shield with her lightning. He was thrown back as it flickered and went out.

Allura leapt around him, pulling out a staff from behind her back and lunging into an attack of her own. She met the witch blow for blow, super charging her staff's ability by enhancing it with her alchemy. Haggar howled in rage as she shot burst after burst after burst of black and purple lightning, the ferocity of her attacks increasing as she lost control of herself.

One of the five druids moved to attack and Keith drew his blade, the luxite being his best bet against their magic. It wasn't really magic, he knew that, but it was the best way to describe the levels at which these creatures could manipulate quintessence. Since luxite repelled any quintessence other than its own it made for the perfect weapon to take them down. Blade in hand, Keith lunged at the beast, feeling the luxite awaken at his touch and extend into a full sword just before making contact with its shoulder. The Druid screamed and awful sound that made the hair on his neck curl. He spun around, swiping out with the blade again but this time the foul creature was expecting it and knew to fear the luxite. It vanished, reappearing at his left to zap him and send Keith flying across the room.

Distantly he was aware that three of the Druids had gone back to retrieving the mech suit, but he could _feel_ the truth that the Emperor was dead. They'd already won that fight and Haggar knew it; that's why she was so angry. She shouted hateful things at Allura, but the Princess just let them roll off her and it only seemed to anger the witch more.

A blast of lightning soared past his head and Keith ducked at the last possible moment, his gut urging him to roll to the left, then the right, then jump to his feet and kick. His foot connected with it for a brief tic before it vanished, reappearing behind him once again. Keith let out a huff and spun around to face it. Dobashes went by and he felt like he was making no progress, worse was that the three Druids had succeeded in salvaging the mech suit, and Allura was losing ground to the witch who had gained the assistance of the 5th Druid. Closing his eyes he focused on _feeling_ where his Druid was, sensing their sickening quintessence and then he plunged his blade. It struck true and the foul creature sputtered in and out of existence as it tried to apparate away, the luxite holding it in place. He felt the moment it collapsed and Keith pulled back his sword, turning to check in on the Princess.

She wasn't doing well, taking on two opponents at once was running her ability to properly form attacks and he could see her energy levels draining. She needed help. Haggar pinned her with a powerful blast and the druid charged up for its attack. Keith could only watch on in horror; too far away to intervene.

With all his might he focused on Allura, focused on the need to protect her and a strange sensation took over his body. It tingled under his skin and he felt a power he had never felt before as if opening a pathway he'd always known existed but never knew how to access. The energy surged through his veins and he knew what to do, all those records he'd read in the Castle's archives had prepared him for exactly this. Closing his eyes he shifted his energy to where he felt Allura's distinct quintessence and in a flash of bright red and gold light he was there; standing beside her and catching the black lightning.

The lightning connected with him, but this time it did no damage. He felt the darkness wrap around his outstretched arms and he circled them in a wide arch over his head before redirecting them back to the Druid. The energy shot out, changing from an electric black and purple to a vibrant gold and red as it left his body. The Druid screamed a horrid sound, exploding rather dramatically as golden sparks rained down from the space they had inhabited moments ago.

Haggar hissed at him, an unnatural sound as her Altean vocal cords tried to replicate a Galran warning. He hissed back, if only to show her how it was done, and lunged forward. Allura surged with him and together they moved in tandem as they overwhelmed their powerful enemy. She shot at them with everything in her arsenal but it wasn't enough, Allura's alchemy was just as powerful as hers and she had an answer for everything the witch threw her way. Finally the old hag vanished in a flurry of fireworks as Allura captured and released a particularly powerful blast of her own dark lightning, sending it back to her in an explosive display. Keith was impressed; he stared at the Princess in awe for an entire tic before remembering about the other three Druids.

They had opened up the mech suit and removed the disfigured remains of the former Emperor, placing him in a coffin of sorts. Except it was no coffin. This contraption was connected to vats of pure quintessence and as they sealed the case, they began the ritual to infuse his body with it. Keith panicked; this could potentially restore him to life if done quickly enough. He informed Allura of the danger and rushed towards them, blade drawn.

As he approached a blast of powerful lightning sent him smashing into one of the vats, shattering it in the process and soaking Keith in the quintessence. The pure energy seeped into his body and he felt the pulse of it as his senses heightened. A maniacal laugh rang in his head and all around him, spinning rapidly he searched for the source and found her; Haggar. She was hovering slightly above the ground behind him, hands out stretched, and charging for an attack. In the corner of his eyes Keith saw Allura as she fought against the three Druids, keeping them away from the vats and preventing them from performing their ritual. Only one more varga and it would be too late to revive the fallen Emperor and no matter what they tried, Zarkon would remain dead.

A blast collided with his chest and Keith groaned from the pain. Haggar's power was different from the Druids; he could feel that she was using a tainted and twisted version of alchemy. He felt his body rise into the air and then, like a child's doll, he was tossed across the large room once again. With a pained moan he pushed himself to his feet, trying to focus his vision now that his visor screen had been cracked. He couldn't see a thing; the fracture pattern distorted his view and blocked important information, so he yanked the damn thing off. His head was now totally exposed but at least he could see.

He scanned the room, not seeing the witch but noticing that Allura was down to two opponents instead of three. He moved to assist her but felt his leg being held firmly in place. Looking down he saw a tendril of black magic that had wrapped its way around his ankle and slowly began snaking its way up his leg. He pulled his blade and swiped at it but another tendril grabbed his wrist and held his arm back. Not to worry, Keith had trained himself to be ambidextrous, so he switch the blade into his other hand and – felt it immediately be locked down by yet another tendril. He tried to kick his free leg but it too was seized and a fifth found its way around his throat while a sixth wrapped around his waist and a seventh tried to pierce his heart. He blocked it, putting up as many barricades as possible with his own quintessence manipulation and tried to focus on replicating his jump from earlier.

But it was fruitless, the witch had him locked down and she suddenly appeared before him, her face mere inches from his own. "You could be my most powerful Druid." She croaked. "Let me train you and together we can unleash the abundant potential within." He spat into her open mouth and she shrieked, recoiling in disgust. "Filthy half-breed!" She cried back. "I'LL MAKE YOU REGRET THIS!" Her power surged around her, building strength with each breath and he felt that fear settle back in his gut, suddenly very aware of his own mortality. She built up her charge and took her aim but the blast never came. Allura had ambushed her, jamming her staff into the witch's back and causing her magic to explode upwards instead of at him. The tendrils that bound him disappeared with her release and he wasted no time in swiping at her core with his blade.

She screamed a blood curdling scream as the luxite cut through her cloak and drew away dripping. Allura's staff slammed down beside him, the witch narrowly avoiding another direct him. Keith ran for the coffin case, Allura panting behind him, and drove his luxite blade through the cover. Another scream sounded and an enraged Haggar shot yet another powerful blast of lightning their way. Allura rolled to the right, Keith rolled to the left – directly into the pool of spilled quintessence. He stood up, wiping the glowing purple liquid off of himself as best he could before searing pain erupted across his face. The witch had appeared in front of him, cupping his whole head in her hateful hands and forcing a surge of power directly onto his skin. It erupted across his flesh, burning and tingling as it radiated from each cheek, meeting behind his neck, then down his spine as it followed the path of the quintessence running down his back and soaking his underarmour.

This time it was Keith who screamed and he felt the shock of Allura's staff as it connected with the witch. He also felt the life draining from her as she continued to fight beyond her capabilities. The Druids were dead, the Emperor was dead, and she was about to join them. He pushed through the blinding pain to level his bayard with her chest, unable to reach his blade that had been knocked to the floor. He willed the weapon to form his sword and it did as he commanded, the red and white tip plunging itself through her chest.

The pain on his skin waned as the source of its power quickly vanished, collapsing into a heap on the throne room floor. Keith wasn't far behind her, landing with a thud as his legs finally gave out.


	18. A New Emperor

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

Again - I suck at posting on time lately! Shit has been so busy that it's hard to find time to edit. There's probably still a few little things I've missed but just look that please :)

That being said - this is the last chapter of 'For The Stars' but there WILL be a 6th and final part. The last installment will be coming out Friday.

\- KarsKars

* * *

**A NEW EMPEROR**

"So like, is it a scar?" He could hear Hunk's voice cut through the haze as he slowly opened his eyes. The Yellow Paladin's voice was muffled and, though he was only inches away, it sounded far off in the distance. Keith twitched his fingers slightly and realized with a groan that he had been placed in a healing pod. Why did he _always_ end up in one of these after every mission? It was getting to be a bit ridiculous.

The pod was running through its final stages and preparing to release him. He heard a muffled voice respond, but they were too far away to understand. Hunk spoke again and his words were laced with confusion. "Yeah, I still don't understand." Suddenly the Yellow Paladin's face appeared directly in front of him, pressing tightly against the sealed pod. Keith blinked and tried to scowl at him but the majority of his muscles were still in paralysis from the pod's effects. Hunk's eyes flew wide in shock as he registered Keith's consciousness before screaming and jumping backwards to fall off the small landing. If his muscles were free Keith would have laughed.

A fight broke out as a spattering of tan, beige, and brown fought for dominance and the chance to smash their own faces against the pod. Standing calmly in the distance was cluster of purple. Keith rolled his eyes at the smushed face of Lance, who had won the little skirmish. "Yup, it's definitely still Keith." The tanned boy said, pushing back from the pod. _Odd._ Keith thought to himself, who else would it be?

The pod released him and Keith stumbled out into the heavily bandaged arms of his Uncle Thace. Wait – bandaged? "What's wrong with you?" He asked before his brain fully caught up, apparently it hadn't finished thawing yet, and he winced before correcting himself. "I mean, what happened?" Thace's responding laugh was comforting.

"The Druid's figured out that I had been the one to lower the solar barriers during your absolutely abysmal rescue attempt of the Princess from Central Command." Keith winced again, muttering under his breath about having been against that one. Thace chuckled, placing his hand firmly on his nephew's shoulder. "You might want to get some rest. Actually, you all might want to get some rest. The other mission teams will be contacting us shortly for a wormhole. Then we'll be setting up plans for the Kral Zera."

"Uh, just gonna jump in here. What exactly _is_ the 'Crawl Zera'? Is there food there? It sounds awful fancy!" Hunk asked, his hands clasped tightly together as he looked off dreamily into the distance, some fantasy of an alien banquet no doubt playing out in his head.

"The Kral Zera is the coronation ceremony at which we Galra choose our next Emperor."

"So what exactly happens at this crawl Zelda?" Lance questioned and it took every ounce of Keith's will power not to turn around and smack the Cuban across the back of his head. It didn't matter though because Krolia did it for him. Stars, he loved his mother. "OWW! What the hell lady!"

"I know what 'Zelda' is and I know you are intentionally saying it wrong. The Kral Zera is an ancient ceremony and not something to be mocked or made fun of." Her voice was clipped and Keith felt himself smirking. The Blue Paladin withered under her intensity, whispering a hasty 'sorry, mam' and receiving a curt nod in return. "It is held on one of the first planets we, the Galra, ever conquered, long before the creation of Voltron and the rule of Emperor Zarkon. Planet Feyiv has been held as a sacred land by our people for nearly 30,000 deca-phoebs." She turned from Lance to address the entirety of the room. "We have already determined our next course of action regarding how the Blade of Marmora will proceed into the Kral Zera ceremony. The Princess, moustache, and rebel -" she locked eyes with Allura, Coran, and Matt respectively "will head for the Altean Colony. The Paladins will join Kolivan, Antok, Thace, Zavin, Fayz and myself to planet Feyiv for the Kral Zera ceremony. The people of the Galra Empire respect power and ferocity more than anything, which is why Voltron will deliver our nominated candidate for Emperor."

A low murmur broke out amongst the room but Krolia pressed on. "Once we have arrived, Voltron will disband and only Keith will remain with his lion, the rest of you are to fly off and land elsewhere on the planet. _Only_ Galra are permitted to be present for the ceremony. We will be seated in the cargo hold of the Red Lion, so that our candidate's power will be on full display as he exits a lion of Volton to ascend the steps of destiny. After the ceremony, providing we have been successful, Voltron will form once again, flying us to Central Command where we will begin our remodelling of the Empire. Should our initial choice fail, our backup candidate will take their turn."

"And who is your candidate?" Shiro asked, scanning the faces of the four Galra in the room.

"I am." All eyes turned to Thace. He stared Shiro down with the authority of a leader and the confidence of someone who knows their purpose. "I will ascend the steps of destiny to become the new leader of the Empire. With the alliance of Voltron, we will join the Princess' Coalition and begin the long process of repairing the damage done to this universe. Should I fail, it will be Zavin who takes my place on the steps."

"Why not Mr. Kolivan?" Hunk interjected. "I mean, he's like, your leader already isn't he? Wouldn't he be the best choice?"

"No." Krolia spoke up, drawing the room's attention back to her. "Kolivan has been the leader of a rebel organization for deca-phoebs. He has led the charge against our own people and, while both Thace and Zavin are Blades, they did not give orders that resulted in the deaths of countless Galra."

"No, but they did the killing." Lance objected.

Keith rolled his eyes. "It's different." He justified. "Look, it's hard to explain our culture to you but, just know that we view following orders and giving orders very differently." Thace nodded along, tightening his grip on Keith's shoulder. It made him smile. "Kolivan would make an excellent Emperor, and he will most likely be an important part of my Uncle's advisory council, but he can never take on the role himself. Same goes for Antok. The people would revolt and there would be massive factions splitting off. The Empire would be in chaos." He looked over the group; the Humans had no idea how precarious the situation was. One wrong move and Thace would be dead, the Empire under dangerous control, and the Paladins right back where they started fighting to take down yet another power hungry leader of the Galra Empire.

He let out a heavy sigh. "My Uncle has worked his way up the ranks inside the Empire. The soldiers know him; they've fought under and alongside him. They respect him. Thace is pure Galra, of an old and well-respected lineage, and many will pledge allegiance for that alone. Just trust that we know what we're doing."

* * *

The group had dissipated not long after that and Keith decided to make his way back to his room and get some much needed shut eye. He also couldn't stand being in the special pod suit any longer; the damned thing was so quiznaking itchy.

The door whooshed open and he sauntered inside, not bothering to turn on even the dim floor lighting he usually tolerated. It was difficult in the pitch room, but eventually Keith managed to unzip the back of the suit and slide it off. The freedom his skin felt was instantaneous and he decided to lock the door of his room and just stay naked for a bit. He crossed the empty space once again, and lay down on top of his bed. They'd done it; they'd actually done it. Emperor Zarkon was dead, Haggar was dead, the Druids were gone, and hopefully soon they'd be hearing about the death of Prince Lotor. The Blade of Marmora had been fighting for thousands of deca-phoebs and Voltron managed to fell an Empire in just over one.

In the time since he'd been sent on his mission to Earth, Keith managed to reconnect with his Human father, become a mythical Paladin of Voltron, and take down the Emperor _and_ his witch. Mission fucking accomplished if you asked him. Somewhere between marvelling at the team's accomplishments and planning out his now wide-open future, Keith fell asleep.

He woke up cold and very much aware that he was naked, the bed still perfectly made beneath him. Faint lights signalled the Castle of Lion's day cycle began to turn on and he blinked himself to wakefulness, groaning and stretching his stiff limbs. Keith climbed out of bed and grabbed his towel, wrapping it around his body before opening the door and cursing angrily at the bright lighting of the Altean ship for the 8 billionth time. Soon he'd be free of these painful lights, and the terrible bed, and the disgusting food goo. The knowledge put a slight spring in his step and he even found himself humming. Though the tune was familiar he honestly couldn't peg what song it was or where he'd heard it.

The shower room door opened and Keith walked over to one of the empty stalls, the last one in the line being already occupied. He continued humming his tune as he hung up the towel on the hook inside the sliding stall door.

"My sunrise on the darkest day got me feeling some kind of way. Make me wanna savour every moment slowly, slo -_" _

"LANCE!" He yelled over the Cuban boy's singing. "Stop. Now, please!"

"You mean to tell me that you come in here humming _my jam_ and you expect me not to sing along? Keith, buddy, I think we need to take you to get tested for space madness cause you've gone crazy!" He rolled his eyes even though the Blue Paladin couldn't see him. "Besides, you didn't even let me get to the Spanish part." He could here the pout in the other's voice.

"It wouldn't even sound like Spanish, Lance. The translators would have you singing in Galran."

"EVEN BETTER! That would be so sick."

"You wouldn't actually be speaking it, that's just how I would hear – you know what, never mind! Just finish your quiznaking shower and leave me alone." Lance grumbled to himself about space madness and Keith turned to move aside the curtain of the shower, stepping inside and starting the water while tuning the other out.

Lance did not stop; he continued singing until he finally left just before Keith had finished his shower. Now alone, he took his time drying off. He wrapped the towel around his waist once again and stepped out of the stall, moving for the large mirror to brush his teeth at the sink. Grabbing one of the hand towels, he cleared the steam from the mirror and caught his reflection for the first time since coming out of the pod. Keith froze.

Spread across his shoulders and stretching down over the edge of his biceps were deep lavender stripes. They stood out in stark contrast to his otherwise milky complexion. Another set crossed around the base of neck, coming down in twin points over the collarbone to rest on his chest. But the most obvious of them all was the large, sharp markings that started under each eye, and gradually widened as they spread down his cheeks before merging at the back of his skull. They made him look more like his mother than he already did. They made him look more Galra.

Keith was still carefully tracing the lines with the tips of his claws when Shiro found him.

* * *

The Castle was in celebration mode. Allura had opened up the wormholes for the other two missions during the night cycle, and everyone was gathered in the main dining hall by the time he arrived. Shiro brought him back to his room and waited patiently in hall as he got ready. Keith got dressed, touched his cheek, brushed his hair, touched his cheek, put on his gloves, touched his cheek, and walked out the door; touching his cheek. Together they made their way to meet up with everyone else.

"Keith," Shiro grabbed his wrist gently, pulling him to a stop. "Are you okay with all this?" He used his other hand to reach out and gesture at the new markings. The man released his grip, but not his gaze, holding the Red Paladin hostage with the intensity of his concern.

"Shiro, I'm fine. Really! I actually love them and I think they look amazing! You don't have to worry about me." The older man startled slightly, taken aback by the unexpected answer.

"I've struggled to accept the changes Haggar made to my body. It was something I had to accept alone, without any support in those cells, and I just want to make sure you don't have to go through what I did." His cybernetic hand found its way onto Keith's shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze.

"That's - actually pretty sweet of you. But our situations are very different. I've wanted to look more Galra my whole life. This is my kit-hood dream becoming a reality." Shiro smiled the warmest smile to have ever been smiled and pulled him into a hug.

"I know you hate hugs, but I'm really glad that you're happy. I was so worried."

"I don't hate hugs." He objected and felt strong arms tighten around him.

Hunk had made their breakfast, and this time the guests ate what they were served instead of raiding the fridge for fresh meat. Keith entered the room and Zavin gave a loud catcall as he rushed over to grab his face and inspect the changes. The general reception from every one present was that the markings suited him – which he already knew. They looked damned good.

Their debriefing took place over breakfast and he learned that Allura, Coran, and Matt had taken Ulaz and a few other rebels to meet the Alteans on their colony. Lance excitedly told him all about it. Primarily about how the Princess had been flustered as they loaded into the Altean pods, nervous about the impending reunion with her people. She'd imbued the Castle with enough of her essence that they could create several wormholes allowing her to get back, the Paladins to head to Feyiv for the Kral Zera, and one or two emergency wormholes if needed.

In total, Allura and company would be gone for a movement while the Kral Zera was in three quintants according to the intel Kolivan had intercepted. Lotor was dead, as were his generals aside from Acxa who was still locked up in a cell in the Castle's lower levels. The Blades weren't taking prisoners, and the Generals hadn't even considered the thought of surrender. He didn't blame them, it wasn't the Galran way. The only downside was that they had lost several Blades in the process. But for the victory they'd achieved, it had all been worth it.

Over the next few quintants Acxa had been easily swayed, her loyalty to the Prince being tentative at best as of late. She'd expressed her growing concern over his plans and with the news of his death, a shift in her allegiance was all but certain. She'd been hesitant at first; concerned that pledging allegiance to Thace would only put her in the same position she'd been in before moving to work for the Prince. The Empire was not kind to halflings.

But he managed to win her over as she watched him interact with Keith and Antok, seeing how he treated them no differently than the pure Galra Blades. She was smart and pragmatic, Keith could tell. She recognized that her best chance for equality and success was to support Thace, and subsequently Zavin, for Emperor. Any other candidate would hold tightly to their blood superiority and treat her as lesser for her mixed heritage. To prove her allegiance, Kolivan insisted she partake in the Trials of Marmora. So, as the Paladins prepared to depart for planet Feyiv, Acxa was loaded into a blade pod and escorted by a very smitten Plak back to their main base. Keith had rolled his eyes dramatically as his former mentor droned on about her.

"I thought you had a thing for the Altean Princess?" he teased and the older scoffed, noting how obscenely low his chances were. In reality, Keith figured Plak just had a weakness for any pretty face. A part of him was jealous of Acxa. Still, Keith hoped she survived.

* * *

The journey to Feyiv was stressful to say the least. The other Paladins were nervous and unsure of what to expect, Keith was worried about his Uncle's well being, and the Blades in Red's cargo hold were preparing for the task ahead of them. The wormhole had deposited the lions far enough away from the planet that they still had a varga worth of flying after forming Voltron. The lions came together as one and the mighty robot took form, the wormhole closing behind them. Keith could feel the other lions prodding at Red in curiosity over her passengers as they flew ever closer to the long dead, frozen world that played host to one of the Galra's oldest traditions. They were one of the last to arrive, ensuring all eyes witnessed Voltron's approach.

Some Commanders took defensive stances, clearly waffling between standing their ground and retreating to their fleets. If they retreated they would not be eligible to participate in the ceremony so, naturally, not a soul moved. As Voltron drew closer the Paladins disbanded, splitting back into five lions. Yellow, Blue, Green, and Black pulled back, flying away from the looming structure and leaving Red to approach alone.

Keith landed at the edge of the structure and the lion let out a mighty roar that shook the very foundations of the mountain. Thace entered the cockpit and braced himself by the exit, turning to give Keith his signal and the Paladin returned it with a confident nod. "Good luck." He whispered to his Uncle and Red opened her mighty jaws.

From the perspective of the various Commanders and Generals, Thace must have looked majestic. He stood strong and proud in the open mouth of the Red Lion of Voltron, his Empire armour marked and scored from battle, with masked Blades flanking his sides. Keith rose from the pilot seat and moved to accompany his Uncle as their group descended the ramp as one.

The structure was setup like a giant amphitheatre; large metal steps surrounded a massive central flat landing. Ceremonial carvings etched into the metallic floor were brought to light with the bright purple flame burning in the Kral Zera monument. The monument itself was a mind-bogglingly large metallic sculpture resembling the two-pronged sword traditionally used by the Galra back on Daibazaal. It sat atop a broad pedestal at the peak of a mighty pyramid and running directly up the centre of said pyramid was a grand staircase: the steps of destiny.

In the middle of the landing area, at the base of the steps, was a large pit lined with unlit torches. Here, spread across the grounds, were the various Commanders and Generals vying for the throne. They blatantly stared as Thace approached the crowd, some looked as though they were ready to object to his presence, others as though they were ready to pledge their undying loyalty, but all were in awe of the magnificent and terrifying Red Lion.

"The wretched Blade of Marmora. I was wondering if you would have the gull to show yourselves here. What could possibly make you think that one of your lot could be our new Emperor?" Sendak practically spat the words at them but not a single member of their group even so much as flinched.

It was Thace who calmly spoke in response, maintaining a cool and collected demeanour, not flustered in the least. "I have fought alongside many of you here, I have _earned_ my position in this Empire, and I have devoted myself to the glory of the Galra." His words, while powerful, drew attention to the Paladin in their midst and Sendak leapt at the opportunity to call Thace out for breaking tradition.

"You have the nerve to seek control of this mighty Empire while disrespecting our traditions by bringing an outsider to this sacred ceremony? You deserve death, not power!" He seethed, and Keith watched as support for Sendak grew, hateful words being thrown in Thace's direction.

"You should never jump to conclusions, Sendak. My nephew is as Galra as our former Prince had been." He gave a curt nod, and Keith removed his Paladin helmet, showcasing his yellow eyes that glowed in the dim light, teeth far too sharp to be Human, and the distinctly Galran markings that now accented his face. "You're ignorance proves you a fool, _Commander_."

Sendak roared in rage. "You think treachery makes you qualified to lead us?"

"I will light the flame, not for my part in defeating the corrupted Zarkon, and not even for being the strongest Galra here, but because I did something no one else could. Voltron will be returned to the Galra Empire with my coronation." As if on cue, Red's thunderous roar sounded off behind them, reverberating across the metal structures and perfectly punctuating Thace's point. It was quiznaking poetic as fuck.

Sendak looked like he was about to retort, but the Archivist chose that moment to appear at the top of the steps, their silhouette highlighted by the burning flame in the Kral Zera monument. A reverent silence fell over all present and Keith didn't dare move. The frail old man wore a mask powered by quintessence to boost his voice and project his words not only to those in attendance, but as far as the surrounding mountain ranges. There was not a doubt in his mind the other Paladins would be able to hear what was about to be said.

"Through 33 Emperors, during times of peace and times of expanse, this flame has burned for over 30 millennia. From our first, Brodar, to Vrig the Great, to our longest and most powerful of all – Zarkon, it has burned ever steady. But his time has passed and our next ruler must ascend the steps of destiny and relight the Kral Zera." Keith watched in awe as the vibrant purple flame vanished from the monument and the large pit at the base of the steps spontaneously ignited, ready for their new Emperor to carry the flame back up the steps and relight the Kral Zera, whom ever that might be.

"WHO AMONGST YOU IS WORTHY?" The Archivist's voice bellowed and the loud roar of the gathered crowd echoed in response.

Several tense tics passed before a General he didn't recognized took the first steps forward, seizing a torch from the fire, and immediately being impaled. "FOOL! Only the strongest may lay their hands on the torches." A particularly loud Commander hollered as he withdrew his blade from the fallen's back. "That is why I will assume command. I have been on the frontlines of the expanse, where iron meets soul, spreading the glory of the Empire. Not huddled in the centre overseeing already-conquered worlds, growing fat on the victories of our forefathers."

"You speak the truth." Sendak replied. "That is why _I_ should light the flame. I was Zarkon's right hand and will assume my rightful place as Emperor!"

"HA, you cried to the witch to protect you after losing to the Paladins of Voltron, a weak and helpless species protected by their lions." He shot a glare at Thace, daring the other Commander to object.

"ENOUGH." Sendak shouted. "Victory or DEATH!" He charged his quintessence fuelled prosthetic, a final gift from Haggar no doubt. Once again, Keith was glad that the old witch was dead.

The two entered into immediate battle, all others recognizing their best course of action was to just stay out of it. In the end, Sendak proved superior as he obliterated his opponent.

"You are defeated." He mocked. "The Empire is MINE!" Sendak moved to the flame pit, retrieving one of the torches and turning to make his way up the steps of destiny. "I will strengthen the Empire, as no one else can."

"STOP!" Commander Gnov challenged. "You cannot light the torch without facing my blades." She lunged at the hulking mass standing at the base of the steps, and the young Paladin winced as Sendak charged his prosthetic and took aim. She dodged his initial attacks with surprising agility but proved no match for the witch's latest creation. She too fell at Sendak's feet; defeated.

"Now, to claim my throne." He jeered, turning back to the steps and beginning his ascent.

Slowly, Thace moved forward, calmly walking past the Commanders and Generals who no longer dared to challenge Sendak. He clasped a firm hand around one of the torches, holding it high in the air. "Stand aside Sendak." He called and the responding snarl was ferocious, vicious, and enraged as the much larger Commander turned to face his new challenger.

A sinister laugh emanated from him as he charged his prosthetic once again. "It is time to prove yourself through the honourable rite of combat. When I defeat you, my first act as Emperor will be to reunite you the rest of the traitorous Blades, starting with your sister and that pathetic half-breed of hers!"

"You're not getting to the top of these steps, Sendak!" Thace shot back as he lunged forward. Keith felt him his mother's firm grip on his shoulder, holding him back from the slight step he hadn't even noticed himself taking.

The fight was brutal, both evenly matched; Thace with is superior Blade training and agility, and Sendak with his corrupted enhancements. Keith watched with bated breath as they fought, neither fully having an edge over the other. Sendak sneered hateful remarks and Thace mostly ignored him, until one hit too close to home and Keith watched lightning flash in his Uncle's eyes. "You don't even know what you are any more Sendak. So loyal, so brave, and yet so stupid." He chastised.

"I know exactly what I am. I am a warror!" He shouted in return, letting out a particularly powerful blast from his arm.

"You are nothing but another of Haggar's puppets. The witch is dead and yet you carry on her bidding." Sendak roared in response to Thace's words but the damage had been done; the others present were agreeing with his observation. It didn't take long for the once quietly observing crowd to descend into chaos as they turned on Sendak. Weapons were fired at him, blades and knives thrown in his direction, and most importantly: insults. Sendak had lost favour and the mob's support now fell to Thace.

"Traitors! All of you!" Sendak snarled and Commander Throk rushed the steps, pledging his unyielding allegiance to Sendak as he attacked Thace from behind. This was unprecedented. Not only did it break tradition but it gave the other an unfair edge. A two on one fight was anything but honourable.

Calling Red's particle barrier to shield her and the Blades in her proximity, Keith summoned the focus he'd used to protect Allura. Concentrating on the now familiar feeling tingling beneath his skin, he suddenly appeared on the steps behind Throk in a shower of red and gold sparks. Thace's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets in surprise and the collective gasp from below had Keith chuckling. He wasn't pathetic and he was going to show them exactly what he was capable of.

"GO!" he shouted to his Uncle. "Take your place as Emperor." Thace nodded and continued up the steps, Keith squaring off against Sendak and Throk. They fought back and forth for a few moments, Keith hopelessly out matched by the two powerful opponents, before another Commander jumped in to assist and clearly aligning herself with Thace. More and more of the crowd chose sides, rushing the steps to assist their chosen team. In the madness, Sendak was overwhelmed, allowing Thace to reach the topmost steps uninhibited.

The fighting stopped abruptly as a blinding flash radiated out from the Kral Zera monument like a beacon. "The flame is lit." The Archivist announced, dropping to their knees in reverence. "Bow to your Emperor."

One by one the Commanders and Generals took to their knees, regardless of where their support lied. It no longer mattered now, the Galra Empire had a new leader and as loyal citizens, they would follow him. And enraged Sendak vanished from the grounds, disappearing into one of the caverns below the structure and Keith's gut screamed at him that nothing good would come from his escape.

Thace stepped forward to address the crowd gathered before him, taking a deep breath as he prepared himself for his acceptance speech. The Archivist stood to the side, holding up a screen to capture the moment and broadcast it to every fleet and base across the Empire. Every Galra would see this moment whether they be soldiers of the Empire, Blades, or civilians.

Emperor Thace stood tall, his unquestionable authority radiating off him as he continued to clutch the torch he had used to light the Kral Zera tightly in his hand. "With the defeat of Zarkon, our great Empire is at a crossroads. For too long, the people of this extraordinary civilization have been manipulated by a dictatorship that placed a misguided sense of self-preservation above all else. It was a tragic, unfortunate series of events that led us down this dark, never-ending path of power and greed. But now we, the citizens of the Galra Empire, have an opportunity to make right all of the injustices set into motion by our forefathers. We have been given a second chance to come together in rebuilding the Empire, by joining the Galactic Coalition, and ushering in a new era of peace across the universe. It will not come easily, and it not come overnight, but with the unrivalled power of this Empire and the unmatched strength of each and every Galra, we can rebuild. The witch is dead, the manipulative Prince is dead, ZARKON is dead. WE ARE FREE!"

The deafening roar of cheers and applause rang out around him. Peace was always going to be a hard sell, but with Thace at the helm the Empire would finally be headed in the right direction.

* * *

It was a strange feeling to arrive at Central Command as Voltron without the intention of destroying it. But that was the situation they now found themselves in as the mighty Defender of the Universe flew up to massive base with the Empire's new leader. There were still a few more quintants before Allura would return to the Castle and in that time the Paladins were to assist Thace with a (hopefully) seamless transition of control.

As they approached, the Paladins once again broke up into their lions, flying into the main hangar and landing to a surprisingly large welcoming committee. This time Thace flew with Shiro, stepping out of the largest lion, the head of Voltron, as Black opened his massive jaws. A round of applause awaited them and Keith felt his heart racing with excitement. Each of the Paladins exited their lions, standing as a group in the centre of the hangar to watch as the new Emperor made his way to the throne room.

During the trip from planet Feyiv to Central, Thace had advised them all of their rolls upon arrival. The Blades were to accompany him to the throne room while the Paladins, Keith included, were to wait in the hangar until called upon. Lance objected vehemently but surrendered when Shiro agreed with Thace. It was important to show he was not working directly with Voltron but was aligned with them, a very important distinction. Their support was a display of power, not an attempt to seize control of the Empire.

The only problem was that it was very, _very_ boring waiting around in Central Command's primary hangar. A few soldiers were standing guard, but mostly it was sentries and Keith kind of wanted to screw with them, only holding back because Shiro had given his disappointed dad face. But a light tap on his shoulder and some conspiratorial words from Pidge had him utilizing his deca-phoebs of covert training to sneak away from the pack.

Once in the clear, the duo reprogrammed one of the sentries to do their bidding. Mostly it had been Keith using his Galran DNA to gain access to the bot's systems while Pidge connected their laptop and worked their magic. "I'm in." They whispered and one of the nearby guards shot them a strange look. Central boasted the same translating capabilities as the Castle and the guard took to watching them with intent. Keith rolled his eyes.

Pidge's search must have proved fruitful as Keith soon found himself in a very unexpected, but not entirely unwelcome, embrace. "Are you crying?" he asked quietly and the small Human nodded quietly.

"I found him, Keith. I found my dad."

* * *

The next phoebe was spent quelling small uprisings. Keith donned Empire armour alongside Krolia and a returned Plak as they doled out swift and unyielding justice to those with mutinous intentions. Emperor Thace soon had a reputation of responding with prompt and devastating force to even the suggestion of revolt. Where Zarkon had been apathetic, Thace was deeply invested. He knew all the ins and outs of his Empire. Nothing happened without his approval, not even the personnel changes of a fleet on the outskirts of the Empire took place without his knowledge.

Thace ran a tight ship. Many Commanders grumbled at their reduction in freedom, but most relished in it. Having an Emperor so clearly invested in the Empire he was ruling over had many become devout supporters. As Emperor Thace's popularity grew, the Paladin's presence became less and less necessary and when the day finally came to discuss their future, Keith found himself torn once again.

He knew his duty lied with Voltron, his destiny was intertwined with those of the other Paladins and Keith was honour bound to uphold his place as the Paladin of the Red Lion as they continued to stitch the universe back together. But that duty, and the knowledge of where he _should_ be, did nothing to quell the burning desire to stay on Central as a soldier of the new Empire, helping his Uncle and mother as they worked to repair the damage Zarkon had caused. He was at a crossroads and though he knew what he would inevitably choose, it killed him to have to say goodbye to his family once again.

Allura was due to arrive at Central any quintant now. She had chosen to relocate the Alteans from the Quantum abyss to a planet that had been abandoned by its people in fear when the Empire encroached on their system over 3,000 deca-phoebs ago. The planet, which she had decided would re assume the name Altea, was stunning. Keith had seen it through the video feeds Matt sent to Pidge, but none of the Paladins had had a chance to visit as of yet.

There were sprawling fields of wild flowers and meadows stretching as far as the eye could see in all directions. Brilliant waterfalls plunged from towering cliffs and the wildlife had flourished in the time since the planet's evacuation. Allura had chosen well.

But the biggest change of all was the new Emperor's plans for the long dead Daibazaal. Keith was now certain that Lance had been onto something with this whole 'space madness' thing because he was slowly becoming convinced that his Uncle was losing it. These plans of his were the whole reason Allura was leaving the new Altea to visit them on Central Command. They were going to discuss the probability of repairing the Galra's home world.

The Princess was convinced that, with the refined quintessence left over from the druids, she could use her Alchemy to restore the fractured planet once it had been pieced back together, like she had for the balmera. Thace thought she was magnificent, Keith thought she was nuts.

"You're insane." He'd said to her after hearing the ludicrous suggestion. "Daibazaal is dead; it was destroyed by Alfor 10,000 deca-phoebs ago. Restoring an injured balmera and restoring a dead planet are two different things."

"I do not believe the planet to be dead." She replied curtly and he gaped at her. "If it was, a weblum surely would have come to consume it by now. Don't you agree?" he opened his mouth to argue but she actually had a point. Keith furrowed his brow in frustration as he processed the revelation. "I believe, with the help of the refined quintessence, we can restore the planet's life force and slowly bringing it back to a habitable state. Of course, Voltron will need to place the fractured planet back together, but it's certainly doable."

"And what of the rift?" Kolivan interjected. "Alfor destroyed our planet to seal the rift threatening to tear it apart. Would repairing it open that up once again?"

They'd gone back and forth for VARGAS before finally agreeing that it was worth a shot, the Glara deserved a home as much as any other species. And now Allura was due to arrive at Central so they could discuss their insane ideas in person. Matt, who had stayed with the Princess to help get everything situated on Altea, would be joining her as well. They were to be arriving in an Altean pod as Allura had chosen to use the Castle of Lions as her actual Castle, like it had been on Arus. The archives of the Castle ship serving to revive the lost history of their people and providing them with the knowledge they needed to rebuild their home as it once was.

Pidge found a willing partner-in-crime in Regris and Keith was maybe a little jealous of the attention she was receiving from his kit-hood friend. The two of them would take off in Green at any given moment in search of Sam. She'd found where the Empire's records stated he should be, but Sendak had beaten them to it. In a fit of rage he had gone out in search of the only other Human he knew of to take him as his personal prisoner. The duo was now searching the universe for the former Commander but he hadn't been seen or heard from since, his entire crew vanishing without a trace.

Lance and Hunk whined about wanting to return to Earth, but new missions were continually being assigned and Voltron was still needed. As much as they missed their families, Keith found himself constantly impressed with their never-ending willingness to place the needs of the universe above their own.

Shiro had a difficult time adjusting to life on Central Command. At first he was plagued with violent, sometimes all consuming, flashbacks to his time as a prisoner. The gladiatorial arena had been repurposed as a paid athletic sport instead of a brutal prisoner disposal grounds. Though the matches were still mostly lethal, fighters now had the option to surrender. Not many chose that route however, they were Galra after all and regardless of who was in command, nothing was viewed upon with greater distain than surrendering. Shiro hated it, he hated knowing the matches were still going on and he tried desperately to convince Thace to abolish them to no avail. Keith was dead certain the entire Empire would revolt if the gladiator ring were destroyed. _He_ sure wouldn't be impressed, though he'd never tell Shiro that.

All in all, the first phoebe of Emperor Thace's rule had gone smoothly. Give or take a few minor bumps along the way, things were certainly looking up. So naturally, they all had to go to shit when Keith's communicator went off during a standard debriefing.

* * *

A room full of stern eyes turned to glare at the Red Paladin and Keith fumbled for the device in his pocket. "Is that one of our Blade coms?" Kolivan asked in surprise. The Marmora lines hadn't been used since the coronation of Emperor Thace, but Keith had kept his device on him at all times; just in case. "Connect it to the screens." He commanded and Keith obliged. It took a moment for the device to load the distant, weak signal and even then it failed to load the video feed. But when the voice from the other end rang out over the speakers, not a soul in the room had been prepared for what they heard.

_"Keith? You there, kiddo?"_ It took a tic or two for the heavily accented English to fully register in his mind but the moment it did, Keith was jumping out of his seat to stand.

"Dad?" he asked worriedly, "What's going on?"

_"Ya'll need to get home fast as you can. Shit's hit the fan 'round here."_ He made a shuffling should, as if adjusting his position before continuing. _"Some giant alien space ship showed up about a week ago claiming to come in peace and spoutin' a bunch of bullshit about forming an alliance. I know a Galra when I see one and this ain't no Marmora member. This fuckers with the Empire."_

"Who is it? Dad, what does the Commander look like?"

_"Big scary dude, all purple and fuzzy 'cept fer his one arm that just kinda floats there – it's unnatural. Said his name is Sendak er somethin' like that."_

Keith paled and the debriefing room of Central Command had gone eerily silent. Though the translators tried their best, the words must not have been crossing the language barrier very well. Only the Human Paladins and rebel fully understood what was being said. They glanced around, exchanging meaningful looks amongst themselves before Shiro spoke up.

"Mr. Kogane? This is Offer Takeshi Shirogane, has the Garrison agreed to work with the Galra Commander?" He was tense though it didn't come through in his voice, which remained composed.

_"Nah, Harrison was able to understand their messages on account of that dumbass kid of mine handing in Galactic Common as a made-up language for a project." _He mumbled '_Dumbshit.' _Under his breath and Keith felt himself blush. _"Good ol' Debbie recognized it and handed out Keith's language notes to the Garrison's senior command. She took over communications with Sendak and Sanda launched a full investigation into how Keith managed to submit an actual alien language for his project. She had a lot of questions I didn't care to answer."_ There was a pause as he shuffled around some more, before his voice came over the coms again, louder and much closer to the mic than before. _"Look, ya'll need to hustle, Sendak – he has Sam. Since the Garrison ain't bout to surrender he says he gonna destroy Earth and all of Humanity, starting with Sammy."_

The twin gasps from the Holt siblings was deafening in the silent room. Keith's heart went out to them but they couldn't make any rash decisions, that's what had led to their botched rescue attempt of Allura and nearly gotten them all killed. This had to be planned out, strategized, precisely plotted down to the last possible detail.

It was Krolia who finally spoke up. "Kolt? We're on our way. Tell Sendak that Earth is willing to work with him if he hands over Sam Holt. We'll be there in less than a movement to handle him." Her voice was terrifying. A Galra whose mate was being threatened was not a Galra you wanted to mess with, especially when that person was Krolia. Sendak's promise to wipe out Humanity was enough to push her over the edge, a boiling rage simmering just below the surface and flashing in her eyes with every breath.

"Less than a week, dad." Keith clarified and the only response he received was '_bring your mother'_ before the line cut out. Though clearly still enraged, Krolia blushed under the watchful eyes of the various Galra Commanders present; some previously employed by Zarkon, and others former Blades.

"Looks like we're going home." Shiro noted solemnly. "I just wish it was under better circumstances.

"After all you've done for this Empire, pledging a fleet to assist you is the least I can do." Thace added in solidarity. "If Sendak wants a war, he'll get one."


End file.
